Enough
by LGCoffeeAddict
Summary: As her dreams grow darker, Usagi's patience with the girls' disrespect of her wears thin. It's time the girls gave her a little more credit. The path to prove herself reveals a complex puzzle of her past and present lives, but...who was she in the past?
1. A Weary Soldier

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 1: A Weary Soldier

**A/N: So I want to finish Enough, but I reread it and realized that, since it has been years since I've even opened this document, my writing style and general approach to the story have both changed drastically. It would be a train wreck for me to just pick up where I left off. So, I'm pretty much revamping the entire story. Seriously. **_**You must reread the first five chapters, since about 90 percent of the story has been changed.**_** In the long run, it's very much the same story, but these first five chapters, since they were the lead-in, ended up looking nothing like the original five. This is much darker than the original Enough, but I'm hoping the writing is stronger. I've taken several creative liberties with the Sailor Moon Classic, but those will become clear as you read. I've babbled on for too long already. Just one quick thing: Usagi and the senshi are all either going on 17 or actually 17 years old, and the boys are 22. Alright, enjoy!**

Sailor Moon sighed heavily as she slipped through her bedroom window after yet another tiresome night of patrolling Tokyo. After nine long months of such nights, she was far past frustration. It had been a month since a crystal carrier had been found. A month of nights devoting her patrols to finding the seventh and final rainbow crystal, hidden within some unsuspecting individual. Exhaustion weighed on the Sailor Senshi so much that she barely remembered to dehenshin before her body hit the soft mattress covered with a pink, bunny-themed bedspread.

Usagi Tsukino stared out the window through which she had just climbed at the full moon's calming presence, weary but unable to fall asleep. Patrolling the city for Negaverse activity and combing the streets day and night for the seventh crystal carrier had a horrible side-effect of plaguing the blonde warrior's slumber with nightmares. Sleep was hard to come by anyway, but these nightmares were certainly no incentive to try.

The black cat curled up at the foot of Usagi's bed stirred when the mattress shifted under her charge's weight. Sleepy red eyes blinked open to see Usagi's pensive expression, illuminated by the gentle moonlight. "No luck?" the cat asked with a mother's sympathy. This poor girl worked herself far too hard.

Usagi's gaze settled on the talking feline and tiredly opened her arms so she could hold her. She needed the comfort right about then. "Not tonight, Luna," she exhaled, tracing the golden crescent moon on her cat's forehead that marked her as the high adviser and guardian to the royal line of the Moon Kingdom. _Too bad_, Usagi thought ruefully, _that we can't _find_ the princess for Luna to fulfill her duty and advise._ Locked away and hidden for her own protection, the Moon Princess was, at the moment, the ultimate reason behind Sailor Moon's relentless nightly patrols. What began as just scanning the city for youma attacks in order to keep Tokyo safe had transformed into a desperate mission to find the last rainbow crystal so that it would combine with the other six crystals to form the Imperial Silver Crystal of legend. Only then would the Princess of the Moon, the only person in the universe able to weild the crystal to its fullest potential, reveal herself. Only then would the Sailor Senshi's true purpose of protecting the princess be realized.

"Maybe if you got the other senshi involved in the search," Luna suggested, as she did every night.

"Let them sleep," Usagi insisted. "I don't want to get anyone seriously hurt because the senshi are too exhausted to perform at their best level. I only have one attack, and it's to finish off the youma. The other girls need their energy to weaken them. I'd rather be the only one not performing at one hundred percent."

Luna propped herself up by resting her paws on Usagi's chest in order to look her charge directly in the eye. "You should at least tell them what you're doing so that they understand why you're always so klutzy and falling asleep," she urged.

Usagi shut her eyes and shook her head. "This is how they've always seen me," she said patiently, keeping her eyes closed. "They don't know I've spent every night patrolling practically since I've been a senshi."

"But that makes them respect you less, because they _don't_ know," Luna pressed. "They would see you and treat you more as their leader if you told them."

"I know they don't really respect me, and it does bother me. A lot. But telling them would accomplish nothing."

"And why not?" the feline huffed.

"They've seen me trip and wail and sleep in class and space out constantly for the past seven months. Even if I told them I go out every night to patrol, they wouldn't attribute all my ditziness and klutziness to that," Usagi explained. "They see me as the girl who takes nothing seriously, but they wouldn't understand that I act like that in public because I take _everything_ seriously. If I stop to let myself think about anything beyond food and boys, I get so anxious that I have to transform in the middle of class. So I sleep."

Luna glowered. "And you allow the girls to think of you as a lazy, irresponsible senshi."

"They never needed my permission," the Senshi of the Moon deadpanned. "They see what they want to see of me, no matter what I do. I'll admit, I hate that they think so little of me. It's not as easy as it was to grin and bear the constant jabs at my intelligence. I'm not some lab rat. I have a fully functional brain and, yes, hard as it is to comprehend, I can understand the human language."

"Then why don't you show them that side of you?"

Another sigh fell past Usagi's lips. She felt so much older than her meager 16 years. "As a senshi, I can't suddenly snap into being a good leader in thei eyes. They'd think it was some sort of fluke, or worse, think I was joking and not listen."

"And as Usagi?" Luna prompted.

"I'm always too exhausted to stay focused in class or on my surroundings, Luna," she stated softly, a note of defeat edging its way into her words. "My attacks in battle drain me exponentially faster and to a greater degree than the other girls' attacks do, and whatever rest I do get when I'm back from patrolling, those stupid nightmares keep me from actually recovering. So I fall asleep in class, and I zone out a lot. I just don't have the energy to change their opinions of me when it's all I can do to make it through the school day."

"Can I ask you something?" Her charge nodded and began stroking her fur. "Is any part of the Usagi you show everyone else actually _you_?"

Cornflower blue eyes slid open once more, reflecting the moonlight in such a way that it seemed as if the irises themselves glowed. "I'm not usually pretending to be happy or cheerful. And the way I act around Mamoru-baka isn't an act."

"You don't _sound_ very happy," Luna observed with concern. A paw stretched out and touched the girl's cheek as if wishing she could do more.

"I know, but I really am happy in the moment, like when I am with Naru-chan or just hanging out with the girls without any senshi business involved. Like I said, I don't let myself think too much and just enjoy the fact that, for the moment, I'm a normal girl and the people I love are safe."

The words struck a chord within the talking cat. Guilt rose up within her at the fact that she had taken this carefree young girl and turned her into a seasoned warrior, in whose beautiful big blue eyes floated the knowledge of someone far older. She hadn't had a choice in the matter, and it wasn't as if Luna could have done anything _but_ approach her once she discovered the girl was a senshi. As she watched Usagi finally succumb to the sleep in the moonlight, Luna wished with all her heart that the other girls could see the wisdom and maturity in their leader's eyes.

**A/N: Yeah, it's a weird conversation, but hopefully it's enough to get you to keep reading! Please review!**


	2. Darkening Dreams

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 2: Darkening Dreams

**A/N: Alright, well I hope you enjoyed the revised first chapter. Here's the second one. Once again, please keep in mind that this can hardly be called canon, as I've changed a **_**lot**_**. I also want you to know that Venus hasn't appeared yet. Happy reading!**

Darkness. Unending, unyielding darkness.

Usagi hated these dreams, the kind where she was fully aware she was dreaming but completely incapable of waking herself up. Especially this dream—nightmare.

Panic filled Usagi to the brim—as it always did—at the sounds of fighting that filtered though the air. Metal clanged and thunder roared, shaking the ground beneath her feet. She was unable to see anything aside from aspects of herself. Her long, golden pigtails whipped around her body, carried by a howling wind that both seared her skin and chilled her to the bone. She noticed with some measure of horror that the ends of her hair were singed, and cuts and bruises bloomed on her fair skin right before her eyes. She had no time to feel the sting of her wounds for the sound of a woman's scream, ending abruptly in a gurgle, rent the air.

Usagi had no idea who it was who had screamed, but with the dull thud of a body hitting the ground as its life drained away came a flash of orange that was quickly engulfed by the darkness. A sob tore out of Usagi's throat, her heart twisting in anguish. Whoever that had been, she had been close, almost like a sister.

Something shifted in the darkness. Nothing had changed; Usagi still couldn't see anything. But she just _knew_ that something had shifted, and terror shot through the teenager's body. Malice and pure, unadulterated hatred permeated the space around her. Usagi's ears picked up the faint rasp of a sword sliding out of its scabbard, and suddenly, she couldn't move a muscle.

"_NO!_"

That one syllable was possibly the worst part of this nightmare for Usagi. It filled her with the deepest sense of dread imaginable as it jerked her awake, leaving her drenched in sweat and unsure as to whether or not she wanted to know what she had been dreading. Only this time, she didn't wake. Immediately following that deep bellow, Usagi watched, her heart shattering, as a blinding golden light burned in front of her, enveloping her in its warmth, before it, too, was swallowed by the darkness, taking that protective warmth along with it.

Usagi fell to her knees, screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs. Tears flowed in rivers down her face, and warm liquid touched her fingers. It didn't matter that it was dark. She knew that liquid was blood.

Never before had the dream progressed this far. Never before had she felt such a profound sense of loss, of guilt, of utter despair. Something strange was building up inside her, a pressure that made it increasingly difficult to breathe. The malevolent feeling had drawn closer to her, but all she could focus on was that flash of gold dying away in her mind's eye and the suffocating pressure in her chest.

Cool metal met her palm, and almost in a trance, she jerked it toward her. It was heavy, but at the same time it was as light as a feather. She couldn't bear the pressure in her chest. She couldn't breathe. But she had no idea how to release whatever it was that was building up within her. It wasn't until she felt the sensation of metal ripping through her breast that the pressure finally dispersed.

Silver light burst forth from her body so brightly that, even though her eyes had slid closed when the sword was sheathed in her bosom, Usagi knew it had illuminated everything for an instant. She knew, for that one moment in time, that the black abyss had disappeared, and that, had she opened her eyes, she would have seen exactly who or what it was that caused her such agony. She knew that silver light at away at the malice, at the evil, for a hideous, pained scream echoed in her ears.

And then the light faded.

And she knew only darkness.

**xoxoxo**

Usagi woke up sobbing uncontrollably. Her entire body shook with the leftover fear and the absolutely gut-wrenching anguish. She felt sick.

When she was finished vomiting into the trashcan beside her bed, she took a shuddering breath and laboriously moved to a sitting position. She couldn't catch her breath, for each time she would inhale, another wave of tears crashed into her and forced the air back out of her body. On the verge of hyperventilating, Usagi rummaged around in her nightstand drawer for the paper bag she kept there. She had put it there nine months ago, when the dreams first started, but she had never needed it until that moment.

As she struggled to control her breathing, Luna looked on in worry, more worry than she'd felt in months. She had never seen Usagi react so violently to one of her nightmares before. But, as she watched her charge's terror-filled, glassy blue eyes squeeze shut in despair, Luna knew this was nowhere near the right time to ask questions.

**xoxoxo**

Mamoru wanted to tear his hair out. He was standing in a fog-filled courtyard again. Each night it was the same dream, the same obscured princess, the same cryptic message. He watched her in frustration, waiting for her to start begging him to find the Imperial Silver Crystal to save her and set her free. It was what she always did, what she had always done since his dreams started after his car accident on his sixth birthday. He didn't remember anything from before that accident. But ever since then, this princess promised him, _taunted_ him with the memories from his past—if only he could get her the Silver Crystal.

On the rare nights when the princess was nowhere to be found, the dreams featured him, alone, in that same courtyard, only instead of fog, there was blood everywhere, including on his chest, and a great deal of physical and emotional pain. He hated those nights with a passion, and he was growing increasingly frustrated with the princess, as well.

He just wished that, for once, his princess would give him something more. Anything but the same message again and again.

He got his wish.

Silver light blinded him as it flooded the entire courtyard, and he heard a cry of pain fall past the princess' lips. "Princess?" he called, beginning to panic as he opened his eyes to see her blurry form leaning heavily on the railing of the balcony, one hand to her chest. Blood bloomed on his shirt, mimicking the stain from the dreams on nights when the princess was absent. He ignored it when he heard a whimper from the balcony. "Princess, are you alright?"

"You must go," she gasped, heaving for breath. "My senshi needs you much more than I right now."

Mamoru jerked back in surprise. "What? Why?" His eyes widened when the rush of adrenaline he always got when Sailor Moon transformed raced through his body for the second time that night.

He was given no time to ponder the reason, his thoughts interrupted by a strong shove by invisible hands. "Go!" the princess urged.

**xoxoxo**

When Mamoru woke up, he was already Tuxedo Kamen. Bounding out of bed, he analyzed the bond he shared with Sailor Moon, curious as to why she had henshined again that night. He had felt her transform once a night since he knew he was Tuxedo Kamen, but he never felt the searing pain in his head that told him she was in a battle. While that pain wasn't there tonight, a great deal of distress flowed through the bond.

Tuxedo Kamen was leaping off his balcony before he realized he'd even made the decision to find Sailor Moon.

**xoxoxo**

The shaking hadn't stopped. Nor had her stomach ceased roiling. The hyperventilating had abated, but the tears hadn't. A distraught Sailor Moon jumped countless rooftops, sprinting as fast as she could in hopes of leaving that awful dream behind. Somewhere in Tokyo, bells chimed, signaling it was two in the morning. Sailor Moon kept running.

A tall bank overlooking the park caught her eye. She would have an unobstructed view of the moon from the top of that building, and she needed the moon's calming presence right then more than ever. Two minutes of high jumps later found the heroine sitting on a bench next to the railing, her damp face turned into the moonlight. Something had changed about it tonight; it wasn't just calming, but rejuvenating. Soon her shivering subsided, and her tears slowed.

That was how Tuxedo Kamen found her, still as a statue with sorrow etched on her face. She almost glowed to his eyes, the way the gentle light of the moon caressed her porcelain skin and gave her golden locks a silver sheen. As magnificent as the sight was, it also exuded weariness. She looked exhausted. "Sailor Moon?" he whispered across the rooftop.

Slowly, cerulean eyes opened and beheld the speaker. Tuxedo Kamen started at the pain swimming in those bright orbs shimmering with tears. "Sailor Moon, are you alright?"

She blinked, but said nothing. Tuxedo Kamen took two steps towards her and stopped in his tracks at the soft, lilting voice. "Do you think a dream can age you?"

Confusion caused his brow to furrow. She was dreaming things, too? "Normal dreams?" he asked cautiously.

"Painful dreams," she clarified. "Dreams that hurt your very soul."

Tuxedo Kamen's mind flashed to the dream he just experienced, recalling the way his heart stopped when he saw his princess stagger as if mortally wounded, how worry still nagged at his heart about not knowing if the princess would be well the next time he saw her. If there _was_ a next time. He nodded his head. "Yes," was all he could say.

The blonde warrior regarded him thoughtfully before turning her face back into the moonlight. Somehow, the moonlight was doing a much better job of replenishing her energy stores than sleep ever did. "I have dreams every night."

Before he knew what he was doing, he was sitting next to her, wiping the tears from her face. "I do, too," he announced quietly.

Sailor Moon leaned into his touch, feeling safe with him there. "I want them to stop," she whimpered, and soon she was sobbing into the hero's tuxedo jacket as he hugged her close to him for comfort.

"Me, too."

"I can never see anything, but I can hear death, and tonight it didn't stop until I killed myself," she cried brokenly, burrowing further into his embrace. Tuxedo Kamen was rather shaken at the recount. He had never, _ever_ seen this girl he so admired so afraid.

A scream rang through the night before Tuxedo Kamen could respond, and both of their heads snapped down to their perfect view of the park. Magically sharpened sight revealed the presence of three youma draining the energy of light-night wanderers. Sailor Moon stood up and wiped her tears with a sigh, her own problems temporarily cast aside. "When will people learn that it's extremely dangerous to go out at night nowadays?" And then she was jumping off the building into the trees below that lead into the park. Tuxedo Kamen wasted no time in following suit.

Once she landed on the branch of a tree, Sailor Moon took out her communicator from her subspace pocket and hit the all-call button. "Girls, we have an attack in Juuban Park. Get here _now_," she commanded before she stored away the device and jumped into the clearing. "Leave those people alone!" Thankful for whatever boon of energy the moonlight seemed to have granted her that night, she set to venting all her fears and frustrations on the Dark Kingdom spawn.

For the next half-hour, Tuxedo Kamen watched, impressed, as Sailor Moon engaged the youma with a surprising amount of grace and skill. He observed her methodical approach to the battle, admiring her steadfastness. She didn't need his help at all. Exhibiting a prowess he did not know she possessed, Sailor Moon defeated all three youma on her own. Once the dust settled, Tuxedo Kamen came out into the clearing. He was surprised to see her trembling when he approached her. "Sailor Moon?"

Her gloved fists clenched at her sides. "Where the hell are they?" she hissed, fury evident in her voice. "I called them before I even started fighting, and they still aren't here."

Tuxedo Kamen placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "I don't know why they aren't here. You fought amazingly well, though. I didn't have to save you once."

Sailor Moon winced at the lingering shock in his voice. "I've always been a good fighter, but since I'm up every night patrolling, I'm usually too tired at battles to fight like this."

Tuxedo Kamen shook his head and turned the senshi around to face him. "I can feel you transform, and it's usually only for an hour or two a night," he announced. "Does your fatigue have anything to do with those dreams you mentioned?"

An involuntary shudder coursed through Sailor Moon's body. Faintly, the rapid clicking of heels could be heard running towards them. "Not now," the Senshi of the Moon admonished softly, shrugging off his hand. "I have to deal with my senshi first."

Nodding in understanding, Tuxedo Kamen melted back into the forest. Curiosity made him stay to watch the inevitable confrontation. This new side to Sailor Moon he was seeing was incredibly intriguing. He couldn't help but want to see how the other senshi reacted to this change in their leader.

Five minutes later, Sailors Mars, Mercury and Jupiter ran into the clearing.

"We're…here," Mars panted as she bent over to catch her breath. "Where's the youma?"

"I have a better question," Sailor Moon declared succinctly. "What the hell took you all so long?"

Jupiter let out a frustrated groan. "It got away?" she asked, taking Moon's brushing off of the youma to mean she couldn't handle it without them.

"No, _they_ were defeated," Moon corrected.

"They?" Mercury repeated. "How many were there?"

"Three." All three senshi's jaws dropped open in surprise.

Mars recovered first. "Then who beat them?" she demanded. "It couldn't have been you, since we're always the ones saving your clumsy butt during battles."

Moon regarded the Senshi of Fire coolly. Her conversation with Luna earlier was still fresh on her mind, but her reasons for letting her senshi openly disrespect her seemed weaker and weaker with every word out of Mars' mouth. It was enough. She was their _leader_, for God's sake! The dressing down began now. "Mars, how long have you been a senshi?"

Puzzled, she answered, "Seven months."

"Right," Moon affirmed. "I've been a senshi for nine, and since the beginning I have patrolled every night for any Negaverse activity."

"_Every_ night?" Mercury squeaked.

Sailor Moon nodded. "Do you know what exhaustion does to your reflexes and awareness?"

Mercury jumped in, "It impairs both faculties greatly."

"Exactly. Why do you think I'm always tripping and needing saving, Mars?" Moon asked. She didn't give her a chance to answer. "It's because someone had to make sure the Negaverse didn't try to gather energy while we were tucked away in bed, and I wanted to let you girls get your rest so that I was the only one of us performing less than my best."

Mars began tapping her foot impatiently. "What does this have to do with tonight?"

Cerulean eyes narrowed as Moon stepped forward so that she stood right in front of Mars. "You three are very lucky I somehow had enough energy tonight, with the lack of rest I've been getting lately. Otherwise the Negaverse might have walked away with a large helping of energy." Mars' eyes swam with questions, no doubt to be asked just as rudely as the other two. "Because, for _some_ reason, my senshi seem to find planning a mutiny to be more important than saving the world."

Silence fell on the group like a dead weight. "Do you have _any_ idea how _infuriating_ it is to find out that my senshi choose to spend the sleeping hours that I kill myself night after night to allow them to have by holding late-night meetings behind my back? That these meetings are about _me_ and my inadequacies as a leader? So many meetings, in fact, that my senshi were tired enough to almost ignore a call to battle?" She openly glared at each of her so-called warriors. "Do you know what that feels like?"

Mars' cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink. Only the crickets could be heard for a few minutes, until Jupiter finally gave into her guilt. "How did you know?"

Moon's gaze slid to the Senshi of Lightning. "I may be unaware of my surroundings a lot of the time, but I _always_ make sure to know what's going on with my senshi," she stated. "And I can see that your priorities are obviously out of order. Instead of planning to oust me as your leader until you're so exhausted you can hardly stay awake for five minutes in the instance of a nighttime disturbance, you _all_ should have been here fighting at any time during the thirty-minute battle."

A gasp fell past Sailor Mercury's lips. "We were thirty minutes late."

"Forty," Moon corrected sharply, sending more blood rushing to Mars' cheeks. "Unreasonable, considering all of you live within five minutes of this park."

"You're one to talk, Sailor Moon," Mars spat. "You're always late to battles."

"And yet I always show up in time to help defeat the youma," Moon shot back. "This is the last time you will miss a battle like this, clear?" Mercury and Jupiter nodded, faces pale, while Mars' flushed with anger. "And since you obviously hold no regard for the sleeping hours I let you have while _I_ made sure nothing happened at night, from now on, two nights a week, we will hold training sessions, one-on-one. Mars on Mondays and Thursdays, Mercury on Tuesdays and Fridays, and Jupiter on Wednesdays and Saturdays. If you don't show up," Moon warned, "I will take that as you forfeiting your title and power as a Sailor Senshi." Mars sputtered in disbelief, while Mercury and Jupiter simply nodded their acquiescence. "Now, go home and rest. Training begins tomorrow at Juuban Kids' Park at eleven thirty. Don't be late, Mars."

Tuxedo Kamen cheered silently to himself as he watched Sailor Moon leave the park. His inner triumph faded, however, when he caught a glimpse of her face as she passed by him. That crumpled, broken expression he saw was enough for him to follow her out of the park, but when he emerged from the woods, she was gone.

**A/N: See? There are **_**some**_** similarities to the original second chapter! Pardon all the long speeches, but I'd say nine months of suppressing all that frustration warrants a couple of monologues, don't you think? Anyway, I'll try to type up the next chapter tomorrow. In the mean time, please review!**


	3. A Morning for Surprises

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 3: A Morning for Surprises

**A/N: And the revisions continue! We finally get some action in the daylight now, and you'll notice Mamoru and Usagi's relationship is quite different from the one in the original fic. It all seemed WAY too fast and cutesy for the subject matter, so their relationship, too, got a makeover. Enjoy!**

Slipping through her bedroom window, Sailor Moon dehenshined back into Usagi, completely worn out. A glance at the clock on the bedside table told her it was 4:30 a.m. It was enough time for her to get in another two hours of sleep, but, as she looked reluctantly at the twisted covers, she couldn't make herself climb into the bed. Sleep would mean more dreams, more darkness.

A stinging sensation registered in Usagi's mind, making her realize she had acquired an impressive gash on her left forearm. Almost thankful for the chance to occupy her time, she dug in her closet for her self-assembled first aid kit and quietly crept down the hallway to her bathroom.

After the door was closed, Usagi wet a washcloth and began cleaning away the half-clotted blood, revealing a neat slice about six inches long. While it wasn't a shallow wound, it was nothing dire. With the ease that nine months of practice afforded her, she applied a few butterfly clips and wrapped a bandage around her forearm. Once she had finished, she bit her lip. It would be healed by tomorrow night, but how would she hide it until then? It was May; a sweater would look conspicuous and out of place.

J_ust make something up about falling on Luna and getting scratched_, she told herself as she carefully made her way back to her room. _Everyone thinks you're a klutz anyway._

Back in her room, she barely restrained a frustrated groan at seeing she had only passed twenty minutes. How was she going to pass the remaining hour and forty minutes? Her eyes alighted on her unopened book bag.

There was an idea.

It occurred to Usagi just how careless the girls had been with their clandestine meetings. Why did they decide to conspire against her until late on school nights? Ami normally would have put a stop to that. It was so irresponsible of all three of them, to give up much-needed sleep to plan a mutiny against a leader who had personally brought each member into the group. The friend in Usagi hurt upon that thought. Apparently, she cared much more for her senshi than they did for her.

Sure, she was klutzy and spacey, but tonight she had finally given them the reason behind her seemingly ditzy behavior. Maybe, just maybe, if she continued dispelling the unflattering opinions they had of her, she would make them see the ludicrousness of their plans. She would make them see how much she had sacrificed for them.

With that in mind, Usagi grabbed her book bag and sat on the floor by her window in the pool of light the moon provided. She took a moment to revel in her newfound ability to replenish her energy stores through moonlight, and then she buried herself in her homework.

**xoxoxo**

For the first time in nine months, Usagi was downstairs and ready for school in time for her to eat breakfast with her family—at the table. As Usagi walked down the street on her way out of her neighborhood, a smirk momentarily flashed across her face. Her family was still probably unable to pick up their jaws off the floor. Even her annoying little brother had been too shocked to torment her this morning.

A yawn broke the amused expression as she left the residential area and entered the business district, reminding her of the severe lack of sleep from the night before. Sitting in the moonlight had helped, but pretty much all of that energy it had graciously afforded her went towards her homework and healing. By the time she went downstairs to have breakfast, she had used it all. It was a worrisome thought that her energy reserves were so depleted that healing the gash on her arm was taking longer than usual. When she had looked at it again after her shower, it still required butterfly clips and a bandage. She hid her arm as best she could behind her book bag.

She needed some method of recuperating badly. Sleep obviously wasn't working. Should she just spend all her nights sitting in the moonlight?

Speaking of which, she pondered that very ability while meandering past the shopping district. Where did this recent power to utilize moonlight come from? Had something happened with the moon or within her? And how was it that she was able to access this power untransformed?

"Ugh," she moaned aloud, holding a hand to her forehead. "I need coffee." Almost on cue, the Crown Arcade came into view as she turned a corner.

The bell above the door to the arcade tinkled happily when it slid open to admit the teenager, drawing the attention of two befuddled college students. "Usagi, what are you doing here?" Motoki asked curiously.

"Yeah, Odango," Mamoru agreed. "I usually get to have my morning coffee in peace before getting plowed down by you."

"Nice to know you enjoy our run-ins enough to keep track of when they happen," Usagi retorted in a sickly sweet voice.

Mamoru snorted. "It's only smart to know when the hurricane is coming."

Usagi ignored him. "Motoki, could I get a cup of coffee to go, please? I'm beyond tired."

Motoki's warm brown eyes went wide in surprise. "Coffee, Usa?" he sputtered. "I didn't think you liked coffee."

Usagi shrugged, unaware of the incredulous stares the two men were giving her thanks to another yawn so wide that her jaw popped. "I didn't until this year. But caffeine is caffeine, and I could really use some right about now."

"Alright then, coming right up," Motoki announced, still slightly disconcerted.

While Motoki bustled around behind the corner getting Usagi's coffee ready, Mamoru examined his sparring partner. "Odango, are you okay?" he inquired softly, his concerned tone catching Usagi's notice and making her do a double take at him.

"Are _you_ okay, baka?" she responded, openly scrutinizing his face. "You never ask me that."

Ignoring the nickname, Mamoru pressed, "You also never come in here this early asking for coffee because you can't stop yawning."

His words sparked another yawn, interrupting what was bound to be a denial that she was yawning so much. "And that concerns you why?" she asked him. He leveled a no-nonsense stare at her that, surprisingly, worked. She sighed. "I just didn't get that much sleep last night is all."

Motoki returned to Usagi, holding a medium coffee for her. "Do you want any cream or sugar?"

Smiling softly, she nodded. "One cream and two sugars please."

Thirty seconds later he handed her the cup. "Here you go, Usa. Anything else?"

She shook her head and left the money for the coffee on the counter. "I should get going so I'm not late for school. Thanks, Toki-onnisan!" And with a wave, she left the arcade.

Walking down the street, Usagi was about to take a sip of her coffee when Mamoru appeared beside her. Groaning, she lowered her cup. "What do you want, baka?"

"Why didn't you get much sleep last night?" he questioned curiously.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "I still don't see why you care, but I haven't been sleeping well lately, and it's just catching up to me."

Cobalt eyes narrowed at the vague answer. "How long is lately?"

His question made her stop and face him. "Seriously, why do you care?" she demanded, flinging her arms out and exposing her bandage. When she saw how his gaze zeroed in on her arm, she only barely suppressed a wince.

"Odango, what did you do to your arm?"

Usagi took a step back at the poorly concealed fury in his voice. She could tell he thought someone had hurt her—or even regularly hurt her. "I tripped while holding my cat, and she scratched me," she supplied as smoothly as she could under the heat of his glare.

Something went off in the back of his head that told him she was lying, but he let it slide. She had assumed her most stubborn expression; she wasn't going to budge on her story. "You need to be more careful, Usagi." The warning, he knew, was far more likely to hit home if he used her real name.

"I know. I can't help being a klutz though," she replied, starting to walk again.

"So why can't you sleep?" he asked, resuming their previous conversation.

In a much more subdued manner—Usagi was more than thrown off by her tormentor's intense reaction to her bandaged arm—she said, "I think it's the stress of being a junior. All the entrance exams I have to take in two weeks and just the thought of leaving all my friends after next year...I think the stress of it all just gives me nightmares."

"Every night?"

Usagi nodded, inwardly relieved that he believed her explanation. "Pretty much." Blinking away the fog that appeared in her eyes as she recalled all the pain from her dreams, she put a hand to her heart and whispered, "They make me feel old."

The pair walked in silence. Exhausted as she was, Usagi chose to think nothing of it and savored her coffee. Mamoru, on the other hand, was stuck with a strong sense of déjà vu.

_She blinked, but said nothing. Tuxedo Kamen took two steps towards her and stopped in his tracks at the soft, lilting voice. "Do you think a dream can age you?"_

_The blonde warrior regarded him thoughtfully before turning her face back into the moonlight. Somehow, the moonlight was doing a much better job of replenishing her energy stores than sleep ever did. "I have dreams every night."_

Both blondes in his life were having issues with nightmares at the same time, intense enough to make them both feel as if they've aged. That was an extremely _specific_ coincidence...

Mamoru ended his train of thought there. Usagi having anything other than her hair in common with Sailor Moon was just absurd. Beside, stress, like Usagi said, was a perfectly acceptable explanation for having nightmares. Stress also aged people, so that cleared, too.

By the time he was satisfied with his rationalizations, they had reached the gates of Usagi's school. Rei, Ami and Makoto stood near the entrance talking, until Rei's violet eyes alighted on the two of them and widened in astonishment.

"Um, well, thank you for the company," Usagi said awkwardly.

Mamoru looked down at the girl standing beside him. "No problem," he insisted, consciously forgoing the nickname. His gaze rested on her concealed left arm. "You know you can always come to me if you're ever in trouble."

With no earthly idea of how to take Mamoru's sudden bout of protectiveness, Usagi only blinked at him for a few seconds. "O-Okay," she stuttered. "I'll keep that in mind." She gulped the last of her coffee and tossed the empty cup into the trashcan ten feet away...with perfect aim. "I'll see you later, Mamor—baka!" She waved as she began to walk toward the gates.

Mamoru chuckled. "See you later, Odango." He was just about to double back when Usagi and the girls caught his notice.

Rei, who seemed a little ticked off (as per her usual), attempted to say (or yell) something to Usagi, but the blonde glided by the group, back straight and eyes forward. Ami and Makoto's expressions were an intriguing mixture of shock and guilt. Why would they feel guilty? And what did that have to do with seeing Usagi?

Turning around and beginning to walk the six blocks back to the arcade, Mamoru couldn't help but wonder. Was Usagi not getting along with her friends?

**xoxoxo**

Haruna-sensei thought she was hallucinating when Usagi walked into her classroom a full eight minutes before the bell. She almost had a heart attack when she handed in her homework, and she had to lean on her desk for support when her laziest student volunteered to do an example on the board and did so correctly. By the end if the first period, Haruna's nerves were frayed so badly that she'd had to excuse herself and go splash water on her face in the bathroom.

Usagi's classmates were equally affected. Her face grew hot as she felt the wide-eyed stares being directed at her. So she was actually staying awake in class. What was so unbelievable about that? It had been a much more common occurrence a year ago, when she hadn't had to juggle being Sailor Moon with being Tsukino Usagi. Couldn't people have just ooh-ed and ah-ed at the beginning of class and gone on with their lives instead of boggling at her throughout the entire class period? She felt like she was in a fishbowl.

A crumpled up ball of paper landed on her desk. Usagi opened it, and Rei's neat script greeted her.

_Why was __my _(the word "my" was scratched out)_ Mamoru walking you to school today?_

She quickly scribbled down a response and sent it back to Rei.

_Drink lots of water and eat well today. You'll need your energy for tonight._

**A/N: Sorry that it isn't the most exciting chapter, but I'm hoping you still enjoyed it. Please drop me a review and let me know! Next time, Mars and Moon have their first training session, Tuxie and Moon meet again, and Rei makes a shocking discovery. Review!**


	4. Reflections of Fire

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 4: Reflections of Fire

**A/N: I'm so glad you guys are enjoying the revisions! I am, too. Anyway, we're getting into varied points of view now (exciting, no?), not just Usagi's and Mamoru's. Now we're getting into subplots (I now have **_**sub**_**plots. **_**How cool is that?**_)**, and as you can probably tell, I'm rather excited about it. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

The omnipresent chatter of the cafeteria atrium provided enough noise to cover up the fact that one of the generally loudest tables at lunch was unusually quiet. Ami, Rei and Makoto all picked absently at their lunches, too preoccupied with coming to terms with the enormous—and seemingly overnight—change in their leader and best friend. The girls watched as Usagi breezed by the table with a friendly smile and a wave before going to sit with Naru, her childhood best friend, from whom she'd had to distance herself upon becoming Sailor Moon. Watching her giggle and gossip with Naru sent the girls' thoughts reeling. Usagi was acting as if nothing was wrong so as not to draw too much attention to the fact that she wasn't sitting with her usual group of friends.

Ami was thrilled at how smart Usagi proved to be in class when she actually cared enough to pay attention, but the fact that the newfound intelligence may have cost her the friendship she cherished the most kept the bluenette subdued. She wracked her brain for a possible way to fix things with the bubbly blonde. She came up with nothing. She could have apologized for not having faith in her as a leader and as a senshi, but it all sounded so trite. Words alone wouldn't accomplish anything. She was going to have to earn back Usagi's trust, which, though easily given, was not so easily regained.

Makoto stared at her gourmet box lunch, saddened by the fact that, for the first time since Usagi befriended her seven months ago, she would have to throw away her extra food. Her mind revisited the confrontation from the night before. She couldn't deny the pride she felt bubble in her chest when she saw Sailor Moon finally stand up for herself, albeit against her best friends. Relief followed when Sailor Moon told them she patrolled every single night alone so that they could get adequate rest and Tokyo would remain safe. She'd always worried about Usagi's commitment to the senshi, but she was beginning to see her fears were unfounded. Usagi's dedication made Makoto's seem downright lazy. She shifted in her seat at that though. "Lazy" and "Makoto" in the same sentence just didn't sit well with the brunette.

It bothered Rei that she was actually nervous for training that night. She shouldn't have called that meeting. Then they would have been at the battle in time, and Sailor Moon wouldn't have blown up at them. And Usagi wouldn't have changed. Her chopsticks froze in her food as she realized she _resented_ Usagi for taking away any quality Rei could have criticized. When had she, once the freak priestess nobody wanted to talk to, begun thinking herself so above the girl who'd actually given her the chance to have a relatively normal social life? This revelation, unfortunately, did not rid her of the resentment she held towards Usagi, she noted with disgust at herself. Every time she was near the girl, she couldn't help but put her down enough to at least make Rei seem like the better senshi, especially since of _course_ Usagi got to be the most powerful of them.

That day at lunch, the unusually quiet table did not seat four exceptionally close friends, but instead, three guilty outcasts. They needed to fix this. Fast.

**xoxoxo**

The waning gibbous moon shone brightly down on the raven-haired priestess pacing back and forth in front of the gates to Juuban Kids' Park. The gates used to be simply decorative up until less than a year ago, when Juuban's main park became a Negaverse hotspot. Now the Kids' Park—smaller than the main park, which was too vast to accommodate fencing—closed its gates at night to minimize innocents getting harmed by rampant youma in the park. Which was probably the very reason Usagi picked this park instead of the main one to use as their training grounds.

Rei checked her watch anxiously. Eleven thirty. The sound of a branch rustling caught her ear, and she looked up to find Sailor Moon poised at the very edge of a thin branch that hung directly over the spires of the gates. "I'm glad to see you're on time," Sailor Moon said, a pleased smile on her face. Of course, Rei didn't see the smile for the happy realization that the girls were listening to her that it was; rather she took it as a patronizing taunt to show off her authority. All thoughts of treating her best friend like an actual best friend flew out the window.

"Yeah, it's a _real_ surprise for _me_ to be punctual," Rei snapped dryly.

Sailor Moon brushed off the sarcastic statement, though she was no longer smiling. "Task number one. Make it over the gate without touching me. I will not move from this branch."

Once Sailor Moon started speaking, Rei shifted into her "focus mode." Focus only on the task at hand and push everything else—including resentment—to the back of your mind. It was what made her so successful at reading the Great Fire.

"You may not henshin."

And just like that, Rei's focus evaporated. "What? Why not?"

"Because you need to be ready to get out of sticky situations as Rei Hino, not just as Sailor Mars," Sailor Moon explained patiently before making a gesture with her hand and retrieving a red, pen-sized wand from her subspace pocked. "Besides, you can't henshin anyway."

Rei goggled at the sight of her henshin wand in Sailor Moon's gloved hand. She hadn't even felt her take it!

Sailor Moon smirked. "We'll work on stealth later on. But come on now. I'd like to only be here for an hour or two."

Falling back into her focus mode, Rei back up to get a running start, leaping off her left foot and jumping off the wall and the tree alternately, until she landed on the branch right next to Sailor Moon. The thin branch wobbled under her added weight, making Rei struggle to keep her balance. Sailor Moon was steady as a rock, gazing at her expectantly. Before she gave herself a chance to fall onto the sharp spires of the gate, Rei jumped off the branch and rolled into a landing inside the park. As she regained her footing, she panted, "How was that?"

Sailor Moon stepped off the branch and landed lightly next to Rei. "A good first effort," she declared, handing Rei her wand. "You'll get quicker with practice. We'll begin every training session with that." Speechless, Rei accepted the wand. "Well, are you going to henshin?"

Without another word (as if she could even think of anything to say), Rei thrust her wand into the air. "Mars Star Power Make Up!" she yelled before she was engulfed in red light.

As soon as the fireworks ended, Sailor Moon switched back into her trainer persona. "Alright, run a mile around the track over there to warm up." She conjured up a stopwatch. "You'll be timed, so don't lag."

**xoxoxo **

Over the course of the next hour, Moon had Mars go through karate forms, jump through the canopy of the woods with Moon chasing her ("You want me to leap from branch to branch in _heels_ and somehow avoid breaking my ankle?"), and practice her aim by using her Burning Mandala on a detached tree branch, followed by extinguishing each fire before the wind spread it. While she made it through the karate forms with almost laughable ease, she fell out of the branches five times, sustaining an impressive array of cuts and bruises and one sprained ankle, and performing and controlling her attacks so many times drained her faster than if a youma had gotten a hold of her.

Sailor Moon approached Mars as the Senshi of Fire bent over and tried to catch her breath, exhausted and aching all over. The throbbing in her ankle was no help either. "You've done very well today, Mars. I'm proud of you for all the effort you've put in tonight."

"Does that mean we're done for the night?" Mars asked hopefully.

"Not quite," the blonde superheroine replied. "I just have one more thing to show you, and then I'll take you home. Do you think you can manage one last Burning Mandala?" Mars nodded tiredly. "Good. I want you attack me."

The words sent Mars sputtering as she watched her leader walk twenty paces away and turn around. "You want me to _attack_ you? Are you out of your mind?" Although a small part of her, she was ashamed to realize, was actually _happy_ with the request. Moon smiled peacefully and gestured for her to begin. Shaking her head, Mars straightened and gathered up all her remaining energy, warmth pooling in her hands. "Burning Mandala!"

As the six rings of fire sped through the air towards Sailor Moon, she showed no sign of fear. In fact, she was perfectly still until she raised her hand to her head and…swirled it. Mars had no chance to ponder what it was she had done because her own attack had double back, and she hurriedly let the power dissipate before it hit her. "How did you do that?" she gasped.

Moon flashed another smile and crossed the clearing. "I will start teaching you _that_ on Thursday," she announced, picking up her senshi. "Now let's get you home before you make that ankle any worse."

**xoxoxo**

Sailor Moon gently deposited Rei in her bed at the shrine. Her demeanor the entire trip to Cherry Hill in no way suggested she was still angry at her senshi for almost committing a mutiny against her. No, she had treated Rei like a good friend who needed her. But then, Usagi always did have a very forgiving heart.

"Sleep off the ankle," Sailor Moon said. "It should be just fine by Thursday."

"What if we have a battle before then?" Rei asked, anxious at the thought of being out of commission with a youma on the loose. Sailor Moon placed Rei's henshin wand on her bedside table. "Then you are not permitted, under any circumstances, to fight if your ankle isn't completely healed. I'll check it every morning and afternoon to make sure you aren't lying just so you can go into battle and make it worse."

Guilt pooled in the bottom of the priestess' stomach. Sailor Moon was only saying this to keep her safe and to prevent further injury. It was a decent, wise decision. And yet all Rei could focus on was the anger flickering inside her at the fact that she'd been forgiven so easily. She wanted a reason to put down her leader, even if it was simply that she held a grudge.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Rei all but demanded. A new thought had mollified the angry monster inside her: if she had really forgiven Rei so quickly, Sailor Moon was a fool for forgetting such a betrayal so soon.

Sailor Moon's answer was simple, but it was enough to replace all of Rei's guilt with worry. "Because, even though I don't trust you anymore, you _are_ still one of my senshi. It's my duty to take care of you." She opened the partition and turned around, her frame outlined by moonlight. "Sleep well, Rei." And she left.

Whatever she did that night, Rei definitely did not sleep well. Suddenly all of Sailor Moon's proud expressions from throughout the training took on a new meaning. She was testing the senshi, to see if they took to her direction well enough to ensure she could trust them to do so in battle. Testing their very birthrights to being senshi. Sailor Moon had been proud of her work that night because, for once, Mars hadn't questioned or challenged her orders, aside from the first task of jumping over the gate. She'd been proud of Mars for channeling her frustration at Moon and at herself into her drills. She'd been happy to see Mars' determination to be a better senshi overpowered her desire to give into her snappish tendencies. She'd genuinely wanted to see Mars pass the test and was over the moon that she had.

She'd never realized just how different she was from Sailor Moon until right then. Rei let her ego rule her actions and put others, most of all Usagi, down to raise her own self-image. Usagi simply had no ego. She cared more for the people that surrounded her than she did for herself. Rei rarely forgave someone—to the point where she would forget the reason behind her anger. Usagi was quick to forgive, but, as Rei was beginning to see, not as quick to forget.

Usagi had known she had to see if her senshi even deserved her trust before restoring all the faith she'd had in them before they'd planned a mutiny. Rei would have just confiscated the senshi's henshin rods and been on her way.

Violet eyes glimmered in the darkness as they widened with realization. All this resentment she harbored towards her best friend for being everything she wasn't, it hadn't always been like this. In fact, what used to simply be admiration and friendly teasing gradually turned into conscious searching for flaws. This anger wasn't hers. It didn't feel natural. What was behind it, then?

Rei swung her legs off her bed, fully intending to consult the Great Fire about whatever currently resided within her, only to crumple to the ground with a pained cry. Her ankle had buckled under her weight.

She'd seek the Fire's guidance once she could walk again.

**xoxoxo**

The Tokyo skyline glittered beautifully under the clear night sky. Sailor Moon stood behind the railing of the water tower near the Cherry Hill Shrine, where she'd just left Rei, deciding which section of the city she should patrol that night. Retrieving a strip of bandage from her subspace pocket, she slowly wrapped the burn on her right palm from handing Mars' Burning Mandala.

"What did you do to your hand?" Sailor Moon turned her head to the right just as Tuxedo Kamen alighted on the railing.

Although there was no denying the way her heartbeat picked up at his presence, Sailor Moon's response was cool and her smile wry. "These gloves aren't exactly fireproof." Tuxedo cocked his head to the side in curiosity at her cryptic answer. "This is the second time you've come when there is no battle."

The caped hero lowered himself to a squat, steady on the railing with no worry whatsoever concerning the fifteen-story drop. "I wanted to check on you," he said honestly, a flash of midnight blue momentarily showing through his opaque white mask. "You were different last night."

Unable to think of a suitably aloof reply, Sailor Moon returned her gaze to the city. "I think I'll check on the Azabu district tonight," she declared, jumping onto the railing.

"Mind if I join you?" Tuxedo Kamen asked, straightening.

Sailor Moon shrugged. "It's up to you. Don't expect to find anything though." With those words, she jumped down to the nearest rooftop and proceeded toward Azabu, feeling more than hearing the whisper of Tuxedo Kamen's footfalls behind her.

After a few minutes of silence and going from rooftop to rooftop, Tuxedo Kamen spoke. "So how did training go?"

Sailor Moon stopped short at the question, just one step from the edge of a building. "How did you—?"

"I overheard you after the battle," he admitted sheepishly. "You seemed so upset that I hadn't wanted to leave you alone."

Panicking, Sailor Moon tried to recall her exact words from the night before to make sure she hadn't given any hint as to their identities in her anger. "You spied on us?" she sputtered in disbelief. She'd known this man for nine months and had trusted him unconditionally. After all, he saved her life on a regular basis. But…did the girls maybe have the right idea about Tuxedo Kamen's allegiance?

Seeing the wheels turning in the blonde's head, Tuxedo Kamen rushed to allay her anxiety. "Only because I was worried about you, I promise," he insisted. "I would never violate your privacy like that otherwise. I just wanted to make sure you were okay because of our discussion before the battle."

Doubt still shone in her eyes just as it laced her words. "How did you know to come to me before the battle?" Had he watched her often? Enough to know her civilian identity?

Reluctant to disclose the dream and his princess, Tuxedo Kamen chose his words carefully. "I told you that I can feel you henshin," he began. Sailor Moon nodded slowly. "You usually henshin once a night, unless there's a battle. When you henshined for a second time, something was…off." He didn't really know how to describe his apparently one-way bond with Sailor Moon without spooking her.

"How could you tell?" Sailor Moon pressed.

"I usually get a blinding headache when you're in trouble, and that's how I know to come to battle," he explained. "I didn't get that last night, but there was still this voice inside me that said you needed me." _And that voice _literally_ pushed me out of my dream so I would wake up, _he added grumpily in his mind.

"You can find me so easily," she observed uneasily.

"Only when you're henshined," Tuxedo Kamen reassured her.

Slowly, the apprehension faded from her eyes. "Okay," she said simply, leaping onto the next roof. When he'd joined her, she tried to steer back to the original question. "Mars' training went well."

Relief coursed through Tuxedo Kamen. She still trusted him, despite her senshi's reservations about his motives. "Really?"

"She truly wishes to be a better senshi, and that took precedence over her usual attitude," she commented. "In fact, she acted much more like herself than I've seen her act for a few months now."

"And this is only after the first training session?" Tuxedo Kamen added, the excitement evident in his voice.

Sailor Moon smiled at the statement. "I think showing her what I can teach her now that I've got energy again helped bring her back."

"So you didn't dream after going back to sleep last night?" he asked, hoping she'd actually managed to get some rest, as they landed on another rooftop.

His hopes revealed no fruit. "I didn't go back to sleep last night," she confessed. A serene expression flitted across her face when she looked up at the glowing orb in the dark sky. "But the moonlight is kind to me."

They jumped another rooftop. They were almost to the Starlight Tower. "How do you mean?"

Sailor Moon kept her gaze scanning the streets as she answered him. "I'm not sure I quite understand it myself, but last night, before the battle, the moonlight changed for me. Now, the moonlight gives me energy in lieu of sleep."

"So you just aren't going to sleep now?" To say that didn't worry Tuxedo Kamen would be as big a lie as saying he didn't envy her newfound ability.

She shook her head. "I'm sure this energy is linked to the moon phases. Last night, the energy I received seemed more potent because it was the full moon. I think the only time id be able to completely forgo sleep would be on nights with the full moon."

"And on the new moon?"

A sigh escaped her lips before they curved up into a resigned smile. "Then I'll need a lot of coffee the next morning. Have your dreams stopped?"

"No," Tuxedo Kamen said. "But I've had them off and on since I was six. Now they're every night. I don't see why they would stop anytime soon."

He heard her gasp in sympathy. "I would have gone insane if I'd had these dreams since I was six," she declared.

"Well, they're not nightmares every night. Those are more of a weekly occurrence, but the dream I have every night isn't exactly pleasant or restful, either," he admitted. "I don't think I could have handled the kind of nightmares you're having since six years old." He reached for Sailor Moon before she could hop onto the next rooftop. He turned her toward him and held her gaze intently through his mask. "If your nightmares ever scare you like they did last night, you can always call me to meet you."

"How can I call you?" His insistence lit something warm and comforting in her chest. Knowing she could receive some sort of solace from her nightly terrors by someone who genuinely understood her distress was enough for her to immediately accept his offer.

Tuxedo Kamen's voice grew soft. "If you henshin, and you need me, I'll know to come find you."

Gratitude sparkled in her cerulean eyes, and before he'd registered any movement, Sailor Moon had burrowed herself into his chest in a hug that radiated throughout his entire being. "Thank you, Tuxedo Kamen," she murmured into his tux. She felt warm arms encircle her and return the embrace without hesitation. The scent of roses and coffee made her feel so cozy and…content. As if just being near this man would be enough to keep the dreams at bay. "I just hope you can talk to me about your nightmares, too."

Tuxedo Kamen squeezed her a little closer to his chest. "I hope so, too."

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this latest installment! Next time: Rei receives the shock of her life during a vision, an imposter Sailor Moon has appeared on the scene, and when Rei doesn't show up at school, the senshi find her passed out at the Temple. Please review!**


	5. Stirrings in the Darkness

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 5: Stirrings in the Darkness

**A/N: I'm quite relieved that those of you who read the original five chapters of Enough think that I have improved. Quite frankly, I would have sunken into a bout of despair if my writing hadn't gotten better in the last two years. Anyway, here is the last of the revised chapters. After this one, it's all absolutely new material. Enjoy!**

The next morning, Usagi once again decided to stop by the arcade. Although she was a great deal more energized this morning thanks to the five hours she spent in the moonlight and two not-so-restful hours tossing and turning in her bed, it still wasn't enough to completely heal her arm and make her feel well rested. Her arm _was_ better, though. Only a very pink, still tender scar remained. But since her accelerated healing dipped into her still lacking energy reserves, another cup of coffee was in order.

"Morning, Usa," Motoki greeted, making no effort to hide the worry in his voice or on his face.

"Morning, Toki-onnisan," Usagi responded with a smile. She watched the relief relax Motoki's countenance at the sound of her much better rested voice.

He smiled in return. "Are you feeling better this morning?" he asked hopefully.

As she walked up to the counter nodding, Usagi noticed how Mamoru was also paying attention and awaiting her answer. "Loads," she affirmed, "but I could still use some coffee."

"Coming right up," Motoki chirped. "Just don't become a coffee addict like Mamoru here." Mamoru shot his best friend a startled look that screamed, "_Why are you dragging me into this?_"

"Uncalled for, Toki," Mamoru grumbled. "You _know_ why I'm a coffee junkie."

Usagi watched with increasing curiosity as Motoki's back stiffened and his hands froze for but a second. Switching her gaze to the raven-haired college student sipping his coffee beside her, she suddenly itched to know the reason he always needed caffeine. "Mind enlightening me?"

Thanks to her intense scrutiny, she noticed the way Mamoru's features tightened for an instant before he forced them to relax. "I've got chronic insomnia," he said softly, although his reluctance to give voice to such a simple answer still puzzled the blonde.

"That sounds like torture," Usagi commiserated. "How long have you had that?"

"It comes and goes, but I've had it since I was a kid," Mamoru answered, gulping down the rest of his coffee and standing just as Motoki handed Usagi her to-go cup. He and his supposed archenemy walked out of the arcade together, neither one noticing the other for a while.

Mamoru's mind drifted back to his dream from the night before. It had begun like all the others, with the Princess begging for his help, but then it...shifted.

_He was suddenly standing in a rose garden instead of a courtyard. It would have been magnificent on such a beautifully clear night as this, with the Earth shining high in the dark sky. But something was very, very off about this garden. The roses were screaming in agony, the crimson draining out of their petals and pooling on the cobblestone pathway, leaving shriveled blackness. Then the red liquid oozed over to his booted feet and started snaking up his legs. _

_Weakness suffused his limbs as he tried to kick off the liquid, which only seemed to grow with the energy it leeched. He watched in horror as it etched his armor and ate away at his sword, sheath and all. More shrieks assaulted his ears, and he realized they were his own when he saw the glowing Earth in the sky slowly turn red._

Usagi sipped her coffee, reflecting on the last thing Mamoru told her. It bore a strange resemblance to something she'd just learned the night before.

_"Have your dreams stopped?"_

_"No," Tuxedo Kamen said. "But I've had them off and on since I was six, and now they're every night. I don't see why they would stop now."_

Six years old. And Mamoru was always drinking coffee, triggering another comparison in her mind.

_The scent of roses and coffee made her feel so cozy and…content. As if just being near this man would be enough to keep the dreams at bay._

Usagi shook her head to rid herself of the obviously unfounded notions. Lots of men drank coffee every day. She was just being silly. This was _baka_ she was thinking about. You could always find similarities between two people if you looked hard enough.

The sound of a car horn honking jerked both of them out of their inner reflections. The two looked at each other, disoriented and seeming to only just register he was once again walking her to school.

"Um, baka?" Usagi asked.

He looked just as out of sorts as she did. "Yes, Odango?"

"You're acting weird," she observed bluntly, efficiently breaking the ice between them.

Mamoru chuckled. "So are you."

"I'm sleep deprived," she argued. "Any oddness in my behavior is _obviously_ thanks to that."

"And I don't have that same excuse?" Mamoru retorted, unable to hold back his amused grin.

"Of course not," Usagi denied. She stuck out her chin in a haughty manner. "You were sleep deprived when you met me almost three years ago, and that didn't stop you from being a baka."

**xoxoxo**

The second Rei woke up, she gingerly got off her bed, hoping her ankle had healed enough over the course of the night to be able to support her weight. It was painful, but she could stand, even hobble around her room. Slowly, she left her bedroom and made her way to the Prayer Room.

Soon she was situated as comfortably as possible in front of the Great Fire. Her ankle screamed in protest at the weight of sitting with her legs folded underneath her, and beads of sweat already dotted her forehead that had nothing to do with the heat from the fire. Doing her best to ignore the shooting pain, she set to beseeching the Great Fire for answers.

Her face drew calm, eyes closed, muscles relaxed. The only thought she allowed herself to focus on was but a single sentence.

_Show me the source of the dark spirit inside me._

Five minutes passed with that single request repeating several times in her mind. Then a muted roar sounded throughout the room as the Great Fire grew almost to the ceiling. Re's violet eyes snapped open, glowing softly, and beheld the Fire's answer.

A black mass swirled in the flickering firelight, feeding on the Fire's strength to grow darker and darker. The room suddenly dropped in temperature as the entire Fire flashed to the darkest black imaginable—and was extinguished.

Rei stared in shock at the now empty fire pit. Her vision put out the Great Fire, a flame that had sustained itself for centuries. A faint glow emanated from the center of the pit. Desperately, Rei focused with her heart and soul on that glow, drawing on her power as the Senshi of Mars as much as she could untransformed to fan that glow into the smallest of flames. It took ten minutes of such coaxing before the Great Fire once again burned brightly.

Thoroughly shaken and spent, Rei passed out on the floor of the Prayer Room.

**xoxoxo**

Mamoru and Usagi had almost reached Juuban High School when the window of an electronics store caught Mamoru's eye as they passed it. Stunned, he stopped to gawk, drawing Usagi's notice.

"What are you staring at?" she asked before turning to the window. The blood drained out of her face when she saw what he'd been watching.

All the TVs in the display were turned to the morning news, which currently featured a certain super heroine—_her_—handing a pair of bank robbers over to the Tokyo police authorities. "What the—?" she gasped.

"That can't actually be Sailor Moon," Mamoru insisted. He _knew_ when Sailor Moon was henshined, and, seeing as this was live coverage, knew therefore that this was not the real heroine. But he couldn't very well say that part out loud, so he settled for, "She's never once done any work for the police."

Usagi was incensed. _Obviously_, that wasn't the real Sailor Moon; _she_ was the real Sailor Moon! Who the hell was this copycat? Something felt terribly wrong. "Her boots are the wrong color," she seethed.

Taken aback by the rage in the blonde's voice, Mamoru tore his eyes away from the screen to look at Usagi, whose face was pale with anger. "What?"

A warning bell rang in Usagi's head. Her ire probably seemed extreme to Mamoru, so she pointed at the screen and ranted as a rabid fan would. "Her boots should be red, not blue. If you're going to copy my favorite superhero, then at _least_ get the outfit right!"

When Mamoru turned back to the screen to see what Usagi was talking about, relief washed over him at the sight of the blue boots. This was an imposter, a fact that any true follower would notice. He tensed up again when he caught a shot of those ice-cold eyes. "Her eyes are wrong, too," he observed, almost talking to himself.

His words sent Usagi for a loop. When had Mamoru gotten close enough to Sailor Moon to see her eyes? She anxiously scanned the imposter's visage and understood his point. Cool, icy eyes flickered between a pale blue and a clear green. Usagi's eyes were _always_ cerulean. "What is this girl up to? It's so dangerous to impersonate a hero. What if someone believes that's the real one and attacks her?" she mused, her brow furrowed in consternation.

Mamoru didn't answer, his eyes catching sight of the time. "Odango, you'd better get to school. The gates close in five minutes."

Usagi gave a start. "Crap!" She guzzled the rest of her coffee and shoved the empty cup into Mamoru's hands. "See you later, baka!" she called as she sprinted the last block to her school.

**xoxoxo**

A breathless Usagi slid into her seat just as the bell rang. Ami, who sat in the desk to her right, turned her head in surprise. A scowl adorned the blonde's face.

"Are you okay, Usagi?" Ami whispered in concern. She didn't really expect a response, considering how badly they had hurt her, but she couldn't help but ask. Until explicitly told to do otherwise, Ami wasn't going to stop trying to be Usagi's friend.

An improvement from yesterday, Usagi didn't ignore her. Urgency flashed in her gaze. "I have an imposter," she replied quietly as Haruna-sensei stood up and began to call roll.

Ami's eyes widened, immediately recognizing that Usagi was referring to Sailor Moon. "To what degree?"

"Bait," Usagi guessed with a minuscule shrug. She began chewing her lip while she kept her gaze forward.

"Hino Rei," Haruna called out without lifting her eyes from her clipboard. When only silence followed, she looked up and repeated, "Hino Rei."

Once again, silence. Worry nagged at Haruna. Rei never missed class without an excuse. "Does anyone know where Hino Rei is this morning?"

Usagi raised her hand. "She hurt her ankle pretty badly last night. I think she is getting it checked out this morning. Her grandfather probably just forgot to call," she lied smoothly, looking for all the world as if she believed every word she said.

Frowning, Haruna accepted the excuse and continued calling attendance. "Kino Makoto."

"Here," the tall brunette declared, casting questioning glances across the room at Usagi and Ami. Was Usagi talking to them again?

When Usagi mentioned Rei's ankle, Ami went rigid. Had Rei really injured herself so severely during training that she missed school? She examined Usagi's unconcerned expression out of the corner of her eye and saw no indication that she hadn't been telling the truth. Was the training so difficult? Suddenly, Ami could not have been more nervous for her own training session with Usagi that night.

"Mizuno Ami."

"Here," the bluenette squeaked, earning a curious look from the blonde to her left.

**xoxoxo**

Halfway through the second period, Usagi asked to go to the bathroom. Haruna-sensei impatiently waved her permission and returned to writing assignments on the blackboard. Subtly, Usagi slipped both Ami and Makoto notes as she made her way out of the classroom.

Checking to see that Haruna's back was still turned, Ami and Makoto unfolded the small pieces of paper.

_I better not see you two behind the gym during lunch._

The message came through loud and clear to them both. Usagi was calling for the senshi to appear just outside the gates behind the gym, which was situated on the vey edge of campus, where nobody would be around at lunchtime. Ami and Makoto shared a confused look with each other across the room. Why did Usagi want them to henshin in the middle of the school day?

**xoxoxo**

When the lunch bell rang, Usagi, Ami and Makoto slipped away from the crowd of students hustling to the cafeteria and quickly made their way to the back of campus. Makoto stood watch while Usagi and Ami jumped the fence with the grace only senshi would have before jumping over herself. The three girls crossed the street and filed into a very dark alley. Soon, Sailors Moon, Mercury and Jupiter were running across rooftops.

"Would you mind telling us where we're going?" Jupiter called from behind.

"To the Temple to make sure Rei is okay," Moon answered, jumping the gap between two buildings.

Mercury's brow furrowed in puzzlement. "I thought it was just her ankle."

"I just said that to get Haruna-sensei to stop asking about her," Moon explained, her voice tight with anxiety. "She did hurt her ankle, but it wasn't severe enough for her to have missed school."

Her answer silenced Mercury, who couldn't help but wonder when Usagi had become such an exemplary liar. The water senshi had trouble determining whether or not that was a good thing. After all, Usagi had been fooling them all for seven months about the extent of her abilities and dedication as a senshi. Could she really trust a leader who could lie so flawlessly? She would be constantly curious about just how much of the truth Sailor Moon would confide in them, which could make following orders that much harder.

Mercury was lost in her thoughts as the trio made its way across town. Jupiter's question pulled her out of her increasingly dark reflections. "Are we friends again?"

Moon stopped before jumping onto a different rooftop and faced her senshi. "I don't know," she said seriously. "At least when it comes to senshi business, yes. But you three broke my trust, and I'm not lying when I say you'll have to work your butts off to convince me you deserve another chance. I don't want to bring any attention to the fact that we were on the verge of an internal power struggle, so I will be your friend when we are senshi." Moon hated how harsh she sounded, how unforgiving, but there was no other way. "Last night, Mars proved that her desire to become a better senshi was enough for her to put aside her issues with my leadership at least for the time being, and she threw herself into the training. It helped, but that trust won't be regained overnight. My faith in you as my senshi will only come once I'm confident that you all have faith in me as your leader."

Sailor Moon said no more, only turned around and jumped onto the next roof, hoping her senshi would follow her lead.

**xoxoxo**

The Cherry Hill Shrine was completely still when the three senshi arrived. A notice hung on a post, apologizing for the fact that visitors were not permitted today, as the head priest had to travel out of town with his newest apprentice to meditate away from the city noises.

De-transforming, Ami fingered the note. "So Hino-san and Yuicchiro-kun aren't here?"

"Meaning Rei is here alone," Usagi said grimly. "Come on." The girls approached the temple, scanning for any signs of activity. There were none. Makoto opened the door to Rei's bedroom, and the sight of the empty room sent a fresh wave of worry down Usagi's spine. "Let's check the Prayer Room," she suggested.

The Great Fire sent shadows dancing across the paper door as Usagi slid it open. Rei lay unconscious on the floor.

"Oh, my God, Rei!" Makoto exclaimed, hurrying to her side. She held a hand up to her nose. "She's breathing, at least."

"Bring her to her bedroom," Usagi directed. "We'll try to wake her up there so she doesn't pass out again from the heat. Ami, run and get a glass of water."

Five minutes later found the girls back in Rei's bedroom, with Ami typing furiously on her Mercury computer in an effort to ascertain the status of her friend's health. Makoto and Usagi struggled to bring Rei out of her slumber, trying everything from loud noises to physically shaking her. Usagi poured some water onto a washcloth and dabbed at Rei's flushed face and neck, which were both damp with sweat.

A smudge behind her left ear caught Usagi's attention. She tilted Rei's head to the side and gently pulled away raven locks to get a better look. "Girls," she gasped. "I think you should see this."

Just behind her left ear seemed to be a tattoo, only they all knew Rei would never get a tattoo of any sort. Nonetheless, a black starburst was clear against the priestess's fair skin. The detail of the tattoo was such that it almost appeared to be an explosion, sending chills down the girls' backs.

Finally, Rei stirred, perceiving three very worried faces looking down at her. The events from that morning came rushing back to her, and she bolted into a sitting position, hysterical. "The Fire went out," she cried, her violet eyes wide and afraid. "It _went out_! All because of my vision!"

"What do you mean?" Ami asked softly as she took one of Rei's trembling hands in her own. "The Great Fire is burning as strongly as ever."

Rei shook her head frantically. "I had a vision, and it extinguished the Fire. I had to bring it back to life myself, and that took all my energy and then some." The girls knew she wasn't exaggerating in the least; she sounded positively worn out, if spooked.

Usagi rubbed Rei's left arm in a soothing manner, trying to get her to stop shaking. "Alright, we're all here. Walk us through what happened," she coaxed.

Rei opened her mouth—and promptly shut it again. Suddenly, she didn't want the girls to know something dark lived within her, and she floundered around for words. Her tongue felt like lead.

Makoto caught Usagi's eye in confusion. Maybe Rei was just still in shock? She decided to try to help her. "Was it about Sailor Moon's copycat?"

Copycat? Rei had no idea what Makoto was talking about...but it was the perfect cover, one she latched onto like a vice. "Yes," she nodded, hoping she sounded convincing. "I asked the Great Fire this morning to reveal the dark spirit behind the-the imposter, and it _swallowed_ the Fire and extinguished it." Tears pricked the back of the priestess's eyes, and fear caused her voice to shake. "Guys, something _very_ evil is coming, and fast." _And it's inside me, _she thought to herself.

**A/N: And the intrigue begins! There's a dark spirit inside of Rei, warring for control, and an imposter is on the loose! Hopefully, this begins to explain why Rei was more herself during the training than she had been in months. We see flashes of the real Rei every now and then, and now that she knows she's not in complete control of herself, how will that change how she acts around Usagi? In the next chapter, Mamoru's dream changes again, and the imposter is captured by the Dark Kingdom generals. Please review!**


	6. Walking With a Ghost

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 6: Walking With a Ghost

**A/N: And we're officially in uncharted territory! We're starting to get into the real stuff now, so I'm hoping you'll enjoy it. Also, to you kind readers and story alert subscribers, please drop me a review! I really appreciate the feedback, be it positive or constructive. Anyway, lots of things are set into motion by this chapter, so pay attention and enjoy!**

**A/N 2: Don't worry, btdubs, about Sailor Moon's seemingly OOC harshness. I think within the realm of the fic, she is acting in character, but you'll see more of her big heart and humanity as the story progresses. Don't forget, she has it in her mind that she **_**has**_** to be harsh with the girls now, since just being their friend didn't really work too well. Small time jump in this: a week has passed since Rei passed out and missed school.**

An eerie silence pervaded the courtyard, making Mamoru shift his feet uneasily as he waited for his princess to appear in her balcony. The space in between his shoulder blades prickled as if someone were watching him, but whenever he turned to check, no one was there. It didn't help his nerves to note the fog seemed even more oppressive than it usually did in his dreams of the princess.

At long last, the princess walked onto the balcony and placed her hands on the railing. Moonlight glinted off a beautiful sapphire- and diamond-set engagement ring on her left hand. He'd never noticed that before. A strange pain reverberated throughout his chest as he realized that his princess was betrothed—that she wasn't _his_ princess, rather someone else's.

He stared regretfully at that ring for quite some time, only raising his eyes when he realized his—_the_—princess should have been begging him for the Silver Crystal by now. He looked up to find her gaze not trained on him. Instead, her head was turned to the side, toward the entrance to the rose garden on his right. Curiously, he looked in the same direction and saw what had stunned the princess into stillness.

The silhouette of Sailor Moon greeted him, making sure he noticed her before walking into the rose garden. Momentarily forgetting about the maiden on the balcony, he followed the shadow of the super heroine.

What was she doing here? Sailor Moon had not once made an appearance in these dreams. Other, far more pleasant dreams certainly featured her, but never these dark, ominous ones. These usually had either the princess or a great deal of blood and pain. Why had his dreams been changing so much lately?

"Sailor Moon?" he called out to her back, receiving no response or any indication she'd even heard him. "Sailor Moon, why are you here?" Still no answer.

Frustrated, Mamoru cast his eyes away from the back of the girl he saved on a regular basis and recognized the garden as the same one that housed the screaming, bleeding roses. Only now, the blood red roses were deathly silent. A cluster of roses to his left made him stop on the cobblestone pathway. A pure white rose stood the tallest, encircled by three different color roses and a bud that had yet to bloom. One of the roses flanking the tall white one was a brighter red than the others, less the color of blood and more the color of a glowing, burning coal. The one beside it was a brilliant shade of emerald, with the sepals carrying a faint pink hue. Next to that one, a lovely sapphire rose swayed gently in the night breeze that swept through the garden. Completing the protective circle around the white rose was a simple bud, almost invisible in the darkness.

It wasn't simply the burst of color that had attracted his attention. He'd seen the cluster from the corner of his eye because, apart from himself and Sailor Moon, it was the only aspect of the garden that wasn't as unmoving as a corpse. When he wasn't looking directly at them, the four blossoms twisted in torturous ways, as if they were writhing in agony, and the rose bud trembled. They went completely still, however, once he'd regarded them head on.

He would have preferred them to be as motionless as the rest of the garden.

The sound of Sailor Moon's heels clicking against the cobblestone ceased abruptly. Mamoru turned his head towards Sailor Moon's silhouette and absently noted the color of her boots, which was the only part of her that the moonlight actually illuminated. Dark blue.

Somehow, that didn't seem quite right, but before he could give that detail any further thought, Sailor Moon sprinted at him and stabbed him in the shoulder with a giant thorn.

**xoxoxo**

Searing pain was the first thing that registered when Mamoru bolted upright in his bed, his clothes drenched with sweat. The pain wasn't in his shoulder, though, which was what he had been expecting. No, the pain came from the blinding headache he knew all too well.

Sailor Moon—the _real_ one—was in trouble.

**xoxoxo**

Sailor Moon stood in the center of the clearing in the Kids Park, silently assessing Mercury's progress as the water senshi flowed from one karate form to another. This was Mercury's third training session, and yet the normally ever-focused senshi was obviously distracted.

"Stop," Sailor Moon commanded, walking over to Mercury's side. "What's on your mind?"

A sigh fell past the bluenette's lips. "I just can't believe we let Zoicite take the last rainbow crystal from us," she declared, the frustration evident in her voice. "It was in our hands, and we lost it." Mercury ducked her head in shame, almost as if she was blaming herself for losing the seventh rainbow crystal in the battle that had taken place Friday afternoon.

A white-gloved hand found purchase on Mercury's shoulder, making her lift her head enough to peer at Sailor Moon through her bangs. "Mercury, you of all people know that we can't win every battle. The fact that we win most is phenomenal, considering everything. It's a setback that we don't have that crystal, yes, but it isn't the end of the world yet. It sucks that we don't have any crystals, but Tuxedo Kamen has three of them. As long as he holds onto them, the Negaverse won't get a hold of the Silver Crystal. Right now, that's all that matters," she insisted. Determination and conviction sparkled in her cerulean eyes during her speech. "You can't let this hold you back."

Mercury huffed a breath. "You're right," she nodded, although the way she chewed her lip lightly suggested she didn't quite believe her leader's words to be anything aside from an attempt to buoy her spirits. "I'll try to focus."

Sailor Moon smiled encouragingly. "That's all I'm asking," she said. When the uncertainty refused to leave her senshi's eyes, Moon's smile fell. "What is it?"

Seeming to catch herself, Mercury shook her head. "Nothing. You seem to have changed a lot is all."

_Seem_. The word echoed in Sailor Moon's head as a pained smile made its way onto her lips. She'd been waiting for this. "Go ahead. I can take it."

"It's just that…you've completely changed in this last week and a half," Mercury confessed after a moment. "Don't get me wrong, it's great how you've finally stepped into your role as leader, but…part of me misses the old Sailor Moon, who was my best friend." Mercury hesitated before saying the biggest issue that had been plaguing her mind since that morning in class a week ago. "And part of me is wondering if…if I can really trust you when you can lie so well to everyone else. I guess I just can't help but wonder when the other shoe is going to drop."

There it was. Sailor Moon's heart sank, despite the fact that she'd known this was coming since she finally decided to stop hiding herself. "Thank you for being honest with me, Sailor Mercury," she began formally. "I miss being your friend, too. But, believe it or not, I've been this person pretty much since I found out I was a senshi. I never showed it to any of you for personal reasons, and until you realize that and stop waiting for me to pretend not to care again, I can't be your best friend. I told you last week that I can't trust any of you completely again until you trust me as a leader. That includes believing I won't lie to you."

Sailor Moon hated seeing the hurt swimming in Mercury's eyes. All she wanted to do was gather the water senshi in as tight a hug as she could handle and not let go. She was spared the effort of resisting that temptation, however, but the urgent beeping coming from their communicators.

"Moon here," she answered, hearing a similar greeting from Mercury.

"The news has footage of the fake Sailor Moon getting captured by a Dark Kingdom general," Mars declared. "She's being taken to the warehouse lot near the docks."

Dread pooled in Sailor Moon's stomach as the Dark Kingdom's intentions suddenly crystallized. "It's a trap for Tuxedo Kamen," she whispered in horror. "Meet us there, Mars, Makoto. I don't care if you don't trust him, but we have to help him."

"I'll be there in ten," Makoto announced, already running, and hung up.

"Ditto." And with that, Mars signed off.

Flipping her communicator shut and storing it in her subspace pocket, Moon started running for the park gates, Mercury hot on her heels.

**xoxoxo**

Tuxedo Kamen examined the bond he shared with Sailor Moon as he followed its pull. Over the course of his nine months spent mentally tethered to Sailor Moon, he'd learned to decipher any strong emotions the super heroine felt at the time, and it had become ever more pronounced since that first night his dream changed and he found her on the roof of that bank. An overwhelming sense of urgent worry pulsed through the bond, along with what he couldn't only classify as desperate hope. Whatever had her feeling these things this strongly only spurred him to jump over rooftops even faster.

The sounds of car horns and sirens petered out as Tuxedo Kamen left the bustling metropolitan sector of Tokyo and followed the bond toward the docks. As the time approached midnight, not a soul stirred in these streets and alleyways, thus allowing four very feminine shrieks to ring clearly through the crisp night air.

Tuxedo Kamen sprinted toward the sound, uneasy because the bond tugged him in exactly the same direction. He reached an abandoned lot of warehouses, in the center of which four all too familiar senshi were rising from apparently being pushed off of a roof. Hiding behind the cement wall of one of the buildings, he took in the situation. First and foremost, he noted with some degree of horror, was a _second_ Sailor Moon—the same one from the news story—dangling by her hands fifty feet in the air from a crane, unconscious.

**xoxoxo**

Sailor Moon took a moment to mentally scan herself and take account of any injuries she may have sustained from her fall off the roof. Other than a few scratches and a sprained left wrist, she was just fine, and she noted with some relief that the other senshi seemed okay, too. As she regained her footing, dark, sinister laughter echoed throughout the lot. The senshi looked up in unison in time to see a triumphant white-haired man wearing the uniform of a Dark Kingdom general.

Before any of the girls could even begin to ready their attacks, the white-haired general stretched out his hands and enclosed them all within a translucent black dome. Sailor Moon's heart plummeted into her stomach. The fake Sailor Moon wasn't the bait for Tuxedo Kamen; _they_ were. The Negaverse had realized that the fake wouldn't convince Tuxedo Kamen that she was genuinely in danger; the fake was to draw the _real_ Sailor Moon into a trap in order to make the danger she was in completely real.

Although she knew it was pointless, she powered up her tiara and sent it flying at the wall of the dome. It bounced off and to the ground harmlessly, the energy absorbed into the forcefield.

A high, vaguely feminine laugh attracted the trapped senshi's attentions to the fake Sailor Moon hanging from the crane. Now wide-awake, her icy emerald eyes glittered with glee as she swung herself off the crane to hover beside the general. "Kunzite, you were right. This _is_ fun," she declared in a voice everyone recognized.

"Zoicite!" Mercury hissed in realization.

The fake Sailor Moon bowed. "At your service." When she straightened, Zoicite's face greeted them, his clothes flickering back to those of his station—and gender. "I must say, I quite enjoy seeing you nuisances caged up as you should be."

The white-haired general—Kunzite—nodded and spoke in a deep baritone. "If only your princess was here, then we could destroy all of you at once."

Sailor Moon heard Jupiter growl from behind her. "Our princess would eradicate you in a second if she was here!"

Kunzite threw his head back, his shoulders heaving as he howled in laughter. "You really think your pathetic little moon princess is anything without the Silver Crystal? How quaint."

"I'm still giggling over the fact that you still think you'll _get_ the Silver Crystal," Zoicite chortled, holding up his hand as four crystals spun over his palm, "when you don't have a single rainbow crystal."

"I wouldn't gloat just yet," Sailor Moon seethed. If there was one thing she hated the most, it was feeling helpless. And nothing was more helpless than a caged bird, whose only weapon was its voice. "You are three short of a Silver Crystal."

"But that's why you're here, Moonie," Zoicite chirped, letting the crystals disappear. Sailor Moon stiffened at the nickname, although she didn't quite understand why. "Call your boyfriend out of his hiding space and tell him to relinquish his crystals, and we'll make sure your death is quick and painless."

"Like hell I will," Sailor Moon shot back, hoping to God Tuxedo Kamen wouldn't be a hero just this once.

Jupiter cracked her knuckles. "And you're insane if you think we can't handle a little pain." Moon noticed she glossed over the _death_ part of the general's statement.

A smirk slithered onto Zoicite's face. "I can assure you," he responded smugly, "it will be _much_ more than a little." He waved to Kunzite, whose steel blue eyes flashed. And then it started.

Sailor Moon felt an electric current rip through her body, followed by the shooting agony of a lightning bolt striking the back of her knee. She vaguely registered she was screaming as her legs buckled. The pained shrieks of her senshi became amplified as they reverberated against the dome, only a fraction of the sound waves escaping the forcefield. The assault on her eardrums and on her body made her want to curl up in a fetal position and allow the sweet darkness of unconsciousness to overtake her; how she managed to stand up as Kunzite continued his bombardment was beyond her. But stand, she did.

"Ready to summon the idiot bent on saving your pathetic life yet?" Kunzite asked, momentarily ceasing his attack.

Panting, Sailor Moon took a second to check on her scouts. Jupiter was in the best shape of them all, having never fallen despite the pain. But she _was_ the Senshi of Lightning. Mercury, on the other hand, was bordering on unconscious. As a water-wielder, the electrical currents would have shown her no mercy. Mars was shakily getting back onto her feet; her raven hair stood on end and smoked slightly.

"Well?" Kunzite demanded.

Sailor Moon gritted her teeth, mentally preparing herself for the imminent onslaught. "Tuxedo Kamen, don't you _dare_ come out!" she yelled, crumbling to the ground once again as a bolt of lightning hit her back.

**xoxoxo**

Tuxedo Kamen's white-knuckled grip on his cane shook with the rage that coursed through his body at seeing Sailor Moon and the other senshi being tortured at his expense. It took every ounce of his discipline to restrain himself from tossing a dozen steel-tipped roses at each of the generals' faces.

Speaking of which…Tuxedo Kamen's eyes narrowed behind his white domino mask. Where did Zoicite go?

A faint whisper of misplaced air from behind him was the only warning he had. He whipped around and held up his cane at the Sailor Moon floating in front of him.

The green-eyed Sailor Moon smirked. "You know, you should really reconsider that top hat. It's a dead giveaway the second you look around a corner," she declared as casually, as if this were idle chatting as opposed to a preamble to what would undoubtedly be a fierce battle. "But I wonder," she continued as she dropped into a fighting stance, "will you be able to attack this face?"

Tuxedo Kamen didn't get any chance to respond, seeing as all his focus went toward deflecting the wave of razor-sharp flower petals that immediately followed the dark Sailor Moon's taunting words. The senshi would have to wait.

He gritted his teeth as he realized his position—backed against a wall—and Zoicite left no opening for him to attack. Sweat began to gather underneath the rim of his top hat as he continued to defend himself against the girl he'd come to revere, even to the point of wishing for battles just so he could hold her again. To see that face so distorted with malice was discomfiting to say the least.

Kunzite's torture of the senshi must have doubled. Tuxedo Kamen had no way of knowing what was going on around the corner, but the sound of Sailor Moon's blood-curling scream—if the other senshi screamed as well, he didn't notice—and the shooting pain that pulsed through the bond broke his focus for just a second. But that second was more than enough for Zoicite.

Suddenly, it wasn't the pain from the bond that concerned the masked hero, but his own pain radiating from his left shoulder. His mask and top hat fell off as he staggered backwards into the wall, his eyes fixed on the shard of crystal sticking out of his shoulder in exactly the same spot as when his dream Sailor Moon stabbed him. His breathing was labored as he raised his head to Zoicite, whose emerald eyes were dancing with glee. With an extreme amount of effort, Tuxedo Kamen stood straight once more and raised his cane, thanking his lucky stars it hadn't been his dominant arm that had been compromised.

The fake Sailor Moon raised a gloved hand next to her ear, summoning another thick shard of crystal. A snarl contorted her porcelain features, on the brink of striking out at him again when her eyes suddenly glazed over and she froze. Tuxedo Kamen paused, sensing Zoicite was not all there at the moment. A dark urge arose inside him, demanding he attack while Zoicite was still unaware. But he barely had the strength to move, let alone strike a deadly blow.

Zoicite's eyes flashed with irritation. "But I have him _right here_," he hissed, obviously not addressing Tuxedo Kamen. "What about his crystals?" He let out some sort of annoyed growl and, after a moment, disappeared.

Tuxedo Kamen blinked at the now empty space directly in front of him. That was odd, not to mention incredibly lucky. With Zoicite went the crystal embedded in his shoulder, causing no additional injuries that may have resulted from pulling it out himself. He felt a little energy return to him, making him aware enough to see his white domino mask and black top hat laying on the ground before him. His heart dropped. Zoicite now knew what he looked like as a civilian.

More screams rent the air, reminding Tuxedo Kamen of the _real_ Sailor Moon's painful situation. Stiffly, he picked up his mask and reaffixed it to his face, the top hate going back on his head. His jaw clenched at the agony moving caused his shoulder, and he loosened it just enough to bark at the white-haired general. "Stop hurting them!" He did his absolute best to look unharmed as he stepped out into the open. "I'm right here."

**xoxoxo**

Sailor Moon was on all fours, still experiencing the aftershocks of the latest wave of torture, when the voice she wanted most and least to hear rang throughout the lot.

"Stop hurting them!" She looked up as he came into view, walking somewhat stiffly. He was injured, and he was offering himself up to fight. Sailor Moon's hands clenched into fists. "I'm right here."

"_No_!" she yelled. "Can you not tell this is a trap, you baka?" Tears clouded her vision, so she missed the way Tuxedo Kamen stopped dead in his tracks and all but gaped at her.

Another unfamiliar voice echoed in the night. "Crescent Beam!"

A golden beam of light shot out of the darkness and across Kunzite's outstretched hands. With a strangled yelp, Kunzite's dome encasing the senshi dissipated. "Venus!" he cried angrily, staring at the dark shape of a girl, slowly becoming illuminated as she walked into the moonlight on a rooftop.

She was beautiful, Sailor Moon observed, taking in the long golden hair held partly back by a large orange bow, the piercing cornflower blue eyes and the seemingly flawless skin. She wore the uniform of a senshi, but her skirt and bow were orange. A smirk quirked a pair of delicate lips upward. "Miss me?" she taunted Kunzite.

Nursing his bleeding hands, Kunzite snarled, "Next time, I'll make _sure_ you're dead, Venus." And he disappeared.

Trembling from head to toe, Sailor Moon only just barely got to her feet. She heard the other senshi follow suit. "Thank you for your interference," she called out. "Your timing could not have been better."

"It could have been a little earlier," she heard Jupiter mumble under her breath as she helped an almost incapacitated Mercury to her feet.

The orange-clad senshi jumped down from the roof and landed lightly in front of Sailor Moon. She smiled kindly and bowed her head. "It was my pleasure, Sailor Moon," she said humbly.

"If you don't mind me asking, who are you?"

Straightening, the girl assumed an air of confidence and experience to rival Sailor Moon's. "I am Sailor Venus, Leader of the Sailor Senshi."

**A/N: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I started jumping up and down when I thought of **_**that**_** particular scene way back when I was rewriting Chapter 1. I was so pumped to get to write Venus's arrival, and now we are finally here! Next time, we get another glimpse into Rei's struggle with the darkness, and Moon stumbles upon a very hurt Tuxedo Kamen on a rooftop after the battle. And the question of the day: is Sailor Moon going to be replaced? Please review!**


	7. The Replacement and the Recognition

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 7: The Replacement and the Recognition

**A/N: Holy crap, I am SO sorry for the giant gap in updating! Especially with such a cliffhanger there. I've had this chapter written forever, but sophomore year of college is kicking my ass. Anyway, here's the next chapter!**

_Straightening, the girl assumed an air of confidence and experience to rival Sailor Moon's. "I am Sailor Venus, Leader of the Sailor Senshi."_

The second those words left her mouth, they hung in the air between the two blonde senshi. Mars watched Sailor Moon's eyebrows hit her tiara in shock at the announcement. The Fire senshi, however, could not allow herself the scant amount of energy it would require to show her surprise, as the swarming black mass suddenly raged inside her. Desperately, she struggled to maintain control of herself, knowing she could cause irreparable damage if the darkness took over. She trembled with the effort, but no one took any notice. For all anyone else knew, she was merely shaking due to the lingering effects of Kunzite's torture.

Faintly, she heard Sailor Moon speak. "I don't mean to sound rude, but the Sailor Senshi already have a leader. Me."

Mars was barely paying attention to the conversation, but the darkness was. "In the Silver Millennium, I, Venus, led the Senshi," Venus explained gently, as if she hated having to hurt Sailor Moon. "Sailor Moon didn't even exist."

Those five words clinched it. The darkness won.

**xoxoxo**

Moon had no idea how to respond to that declaration. Her entire body had gone numb. She didn't exist a thousand years ago? Then why did she exist now? Was she simply a placeholder for Venus, destined to become obsolete once the true leader joined their ranks?

Mars was the one to break the silence. "Well that explains a _lot_." Her snide voice cut Sailor Moon like a razor. Mars stepped forward and bowed to Venus. "I am so glad our true leader has appeared. It was obvious that Sailor Moon wasn't capable of the job since the beginning. Now we can finally rid ourselves of the dead weight."

"Mars," Jupiter breathed in shock. "That's awfully harsh."

Venus' cornflower eyes grew stern. "And unfair, from what central control has told me," she chided.

Sailor Moon didn't hear anything else. She couldn't. No matter what was said now, it wouldn't assuage the sensation strikingly similar to her dream-suicide, the sword sliding through her breast. Only there was no relief of pressure this time, just the sharp agony of betrayal. She had to get out; she couldn't let them see her cry, not this time. Nodding slightly toward Sailor Mercury, she began inching away from the group. Mercury's eyes glimmered with regret as she nodded just as minutely. She wouldn't draw attention to Moon's departure.

When she had jumped soundlessly on the roof of a warehouse, she noticed Tuxedo Kamen had left. When, she had no clue, but he was as silent as ever, even injured as he was. Sailor Moon began making her way toward the city. Hopefully, she'd come across him on her way. Someone needed to check his injury.

**xoxoxo **

She found him sitting on the edge of the roof of a building ten minutes out of the city. His cape was off, and he was gingerly sliding off his jacket, revealing a dreadfully large bloodstain on the back of his white dress shirt. So it was his shoulder that was wounded.

"Can I help?" she asked from behind him.

The soft question elicited a jerk of surprise and a groan of pain from the masked superhero. He turned his head to the side, offering her a view of his profile outlined by the city lights. "Sailor Moon?"

She walked forward and kneeled behind him, assisting in the removal of his jacket. "Yeah," she whispered. "I could help you clean it, if you like."

"With what? We're on a rooftop."

"Then why did you decide here would be a good place to tend to your shoulder?" Sailor Moon shot back, watching as the faintest hint of pink flow into his cheeks. "I have antiseptic and gauze," she provided gently. "When you get injured as much as I do, you learn to carry first aid supplies at all times." She fingered her left glove absentmindedly, which hid the faintest of scars from the battle a week and a half past. "And if all this blood is anything to go by, you'd pass out before you got home without bandaging it."

"It's okay, really," Tuxedo Kamen said. "I don't want to be a burden. I'm sure you have to get home."

"It's no burden," she insisted. "I could use the distraction."

"From what?"

A beat preceded her reply. "From being replaced."

The silence that followed answered her unasked question. He had still been there when Sailor Venus had announced herself. "Okay, you can help me," he ceded.

Relief stole over her. Judging from the bloodstain, she would be able to distract herself for some time. "Great. You're going to have to take off your shirt, though."

He obeyed quietly, deliberately unbuttoning his shirt as his mind focused on her voice. When he couldn't see her talking, she sounded tantalizingly familiar. He recalled the way he halted when she yelled at him for coming out into the open.

"_No!" she yelled. "Can you not tell this is a trap, you baka?" Tears clouded her vision, so she missed the way Tuxedo Kamen stopped dead in his tracks and all but gaped at her._

That name, that voice, the fury in those fathomless cerulean eyes. It was all too reminiscent of the civilian blonde he tormented daily. Add in the fact that both had issues sleeping and nightmares… Could Usagi really be Sailor Moon?

A gasp brought him out of his thoughts. "What?"

Sailor Moon now held his shirt in her hands, staring in horror at the matching bloodstain on the front of his shirt. "What the hell happened to you?" she hissed.

"Zoicite stabbed me with a giant crystal, while he still looked like you. Just like in my dream." The last sentence slipped out before he could stop it. They hadn't ever discussed his dreams before.

"You dreamed this?" Sailor Moon paused in the middle of opening the bottle of antiseptic. "You dreamed that I would stab you?"

He could hear the hurt make her voice tremble and hastened to clarify, "No. I knew the Sailor Moon that stabbed me in my dream wasn't you."

The sting against the back of his shoulder let him know she'd resumed her ministrations and was wiping away the blood. "Really? How?"

Tuxedo Kamen was suddenly very thankful for his unpleasant dream, for it offered him the chance to see if his suspicions concerning Sailor Moon's identity were correct. "Her boots were the wrong color," he stated simply.

Sailor Moon's eyes widened, hearing a replay of her conversation with Mamoru from earlier that day in her mind. "Zoicite got something else about me wrong, too."

The trepidation in her voice sounded clear to him. He nodded and said the two words that could confirm his suspicions: "Your eyes." He felt Sailor Moon's gloved hands freeze on his shoulder.

"Baka?" she exhaled.

And there it was.

"Odango?" he responded. Despite the fact that he'd thought about it to the point where he almost expected it, the reality that Odango Atama was Sailor Moon still stunned him.

"_Baka?_" she shrieked, her hands leaving his back as she stood up.

With some effort, Tuxedo Kamen turned halfway so that he could look her in the face. Shock was written clearly across her features. "You're Sailor Moon?"

"_You're_ Tuxedo Kamen?"

They stared at each other in silence for a good thirty seconds before he sighed. "I guess that means these meetings can't continue."

"What? Why not?" Sailor Moon was surprised to find the realization that her regular sparring partner was also her masked savior didn't bother her, but she was even more surprised at the panic that welled up at the thought of no longer seeing him.

"Because we can't stand each other in our civilian forms," Tuxedo Kamen said, a touch of regret seeping into his voice. He dropped his gaze to the roof slates.

A hand landed on his good shoulder, and he raised his head to see Sailor Moon's face not two inches away from his, a kind smile on her lips. "Hey, our last two conversations weren't so bad," she pointed out. "Maybe we're growing up."

"You think so?" Sailor Moon nodded. He watched as amusement sparkled to life in her eyes. "What?"

"I just realized how ridiculous you look wearing a mask, top hat and tux pants but no shirt," she giggled. "Even half-covered in blood, it's pretty funny."

A small smile rose to his lips as he looked down at himself. "I guess it is, now that you mention it."

Sailor Moon returned to the task of cleaning him up, and for a little while the only sounds were the occasional intake of breath from Tuxedo Kamen whenever she applied the antiseptic. "Should I tell the others that I know your civilian identity?" she asked, beginning to affix some crude pressure bandages—which were really parts of her fuku's skirt and balled up gauze—to his wound.

Staring out at the Tokyo skyline, Tuxedo Kamen stayed silent for a few seconds, mulling over the question. "They still don't exactly trust me," he said finally, "meaning I can't trust them completely either."

Sailor Moon nodded in understanding. "That's fine. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me," she assured him. "Alright, seeing as I can't fly, I'm going to need you to turn at least 90 degrees so I can see to the front wound."

As he heeded her request and she came into view, Tuxedo Kamen's eyebrows shot up at the sight of her mutilated skirt. Almost half of it was missing, converted into durable bandage strips. Knowing this was Usagi's body didn't make it any easier to resist ogling the long, slender legs.

She began wiping off the blood on his chest. The more and more she cleared away, the more of her own blood pooled in her cheeks. Tuxedo Kamen—_Mamoru_—really was quite fit; there wasn't an ounce of fat anywhere on his torso. With that kind of muscle, it was a small wonder that he always felt like a brick wall whenever she would crash into him on her morning dashes to school. "So does this mean we still have to fight whenever there are other people around?"

"I guess so," Tuxedo Kamen replied. "It would look pretty odd if we suddenly started getting along as well as we do as Tuxedo Kamen and Sailor Moon."

Sailor Moon blushed some more at that. She'd just recalled how clear she'd made it as Usagi that she had a crush on Tuxedo Kamen—on _Mamoru._ She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. "You know I'm not nearly as ditzy as I come across in my civilian form," she insisted suddenly. The slightly bemused, puzzled expression Tuxedo Kamen wore after her comment made her face grow even hotter. She was surprised she wasn't glowing.

"I always suspected that," he said, amusement lacing his voice. She could tell he was only just refraining from commenting on her red face. "You'd have moments of surprising lucidity every once in a while."

"It's just that, when I'm in public, I can't afford to take anything seriously. Part of it is just as a cover; who'd expect the dumb blonde to be a senshi? But mainly…if I did take life seriously, I'd start thinking about the Negaverse and the Silver Crystal, and I'd get so stressed out by it all that I would have to henshin and patrol the city. And henshining in public just _might_ reveal my identity." Sailor Moon bit her lip in consternation. "Although, since the last rainbow crystal was found, it became less of an issue because my patrols have been for the crystals for so long. And I guess Venus will be taking over most of my responsibilities now."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I apparently didn't exist in the Silver Millennium."

Tuxedo Kamen stilled for a second. "Then I guess I didn't either," he surmised. "I doubt there was a random guy in a mask and a tux flying around protecting a girl who didn't exist in that time."

Sailor Moon laughed. "Who knows? You could have worn armor."

"And you could have worn a gown." Sailor Moon stared at him questioningly. He took her hand, the glove covering it stained red with his blood, from his shoulder and squeezed it softly. "Just because Sailor Moon didn't exist back then doesn't mean _you_ didn't."

"I guess so."

"I agree with the shirtless guy," a new voice chimed in, making both Sailor Moon's and Tuxedo Kamen's heads whip around, much to the latter's physical agony. Sailor Venus had just jumped onto the same roof and was walking toward them. Sailor Moon withdrew her hands from Tuxedo Kamen's shoulder and hand hurriedly, leaving the last bandage loose. He couldn't resist chuckling as her face grew even more reminiscent of a tomato, as if she had been seen doing something inappropriate. He noticed the sly smile on Venus' face as she, too, caught sight of Sailor Moon's visage. The orange-clad senshi bowed to him. "Sailor Venus, Senshi of Love and Beauty, Leader of the Sailor Senshi."

The formality of the introduction puzzled Tuxedo Kamen, who shared a curious glance with Sailor Moon before responding with a nod of his head. "Tuxedo Kamen, er…Protector of Sailor Moon." He could feel his companion's eyes burning into the side of his face in shock. Great, now _he_ was flushing.

Intrigue sparkled in Venus' eyes, which were strikingly similar to Sailor Moon's, if a shade lighter. "Pleased to make your acquaintance," she announced. In fact, Tuxedo Kamen thought, Venus looked a great deal like Sailor Moon. Odd.

"Likewise," he said. Then he turned his head toward Sailor Moon, who couldn't stop chewing her bottom lip. "Could you help me up? You two should talk so I'll be on my way."

Thankful to be doing something, Sailor Moon quickly stood and supported him as he got to his feet. "Are you going to be alright getting back?" she asked, worriedly attacking her bottom lip again.

Before he knew what he was doing, he reached up and touched her lips lightly. "Stop that," he chided, "or you'll draw blood pretty soon." Wide, round cerulean eyes stared up at him, but she stopped biting her lip. "I'll be fine, thanks to you. Don't worry about me." And with a wave, he was off, leaping gracefully from building to building.

Sailor Moon stared after him until he was out of sight. And then the spell broke. All the despair and anguish from just an hour ago came crashing back. It was all she could do to keep her eyes from watering as she turned to face her new leader.

"He's right," Venus said. "We really should talk."

Sighing, Sailor Moon nodded. "Yes, we should, but can it wait until tomorrow? I don't really have the energy tonight. Luna's probably freaking out right now since I should have gotten home an hour and a half ago." Sorrow dragged down the Senshi of the Moon's shoulders as she realized she would have to tell her guardian that she was no longer the leader of the senshi and that Mars couldn't be happier. She was not looking forward to that discussion. For the first time in nine months, all she could think of was sleep. Losing consciousness had never sounded so appealing.

Disappointment flitted across Venus' features at the request. Seeing how much she'd been hoping to catch her tonight made guilt well up in Sailor Moon's throat, almost to the point of changing her mind. "Okay, tomorrow's fine," Venus accepted, plastering on a smile. "I'm going to be joining your class tomorrow, so I guess we can meet up after school?"

"Sure, that works for me." Sailor Moon turned around and, with a wave and a "See you tomorrow!" jumped onto the next roof en route home, leaving Sailor Venus to watch her leave.

**xoxoxo **

Sailor Moon reached her balcony and saw Luna anxiously pacing back and forth in front of the window. Tapping lightly on the glass pane as a warning, Sailor Moon opened the window and slipped into her bedroom. "I'm sorry I'm so late," she apologized before her feline guardian could screech at her for making her worry so much. "There was a battle, a big one."

Dehenshining, Usagi walked over to her dresser and retrieved her pajamas, wanting nothing more than to crawl under the covers and never come out again. "What happened?" Luna asked, noticing the look of dejection on her charge's face, the look that told her something happened that apparently undid all her progress of the last two weeks.

Now clad in her pajamas, Usagi climbed into her bed and told her the main events for the night. "A Sailor Moon imposter appeared, and it turned out to be Zoicite. Then this new general showed up named Kunzite. He tortured us—by electrocution—for about an hour, while Zoicite fought Tuxedo Kamen and stabbed him in the shoulder. Zoicite disappeared and a new senshi showed up and attacked Kunzite, who also left after that."

"A new senshi?" the cat repeated as she jumped onto the bed.

Usagi nodded, the tears she'd been holding back all night finally surfacing. She gathered Luna into her arms, hugging her close as she lay down. "Sailor Venus." The tears started flowing faster, and she buried her face in Luna's midnight fur. "I've been replaced."

**A/N: I promise, I'll try to be better about updating from now on. But please, tell me you still love me and review!**


	8. A Promise from the Past

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 8: A Promise from the Past

**A/N: I know, I'm absolutely terrible. I haven't updated since December, and I am **_**so**_** sorry about that. This semester kicked me in the ass, and I neglected a lot of things, including this. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hopefully you're not too mad at me to read it.**

A delighted squeal burst forth out of Usagi's mouth as she was showered with cool water. Her big, round blue eyes opened to see she was standing in a fountain, her pretty pink frock drenched. She pouted a little at that. She loved this dress, and it didn't stay dry no matter how much she wanted it to. But the fountain just looked so _fun_, and Vee kept tugging her along. Maybe Mommy could make sure the dress wasn't ruined later. For now, she thought as she narrowed her eyes in focus and shook her dripping shoulder-length pigtails out of the way, she had to find Vee and make her pay.

Her chubby toes wriggled happily in the water as she ducked behind the statue that stood in the center of the fountain. Peeking around the side, she caught a glimpse of an eye very similar to her own before the other girl giggled and retreated. "Veeeeeeee!" Usagi whined, stomping her small foot and creating a splash. "Let me splash you!"

Laughter tinkled in response and she caught a glimpse of golden hair running away from her as she chased her in circles around the statue. A mischievous glint sparkled in her eye, and without another moment's hesitation, she plopped down into the shallow pool of water, making sure to create an impressive splash. "Owwie!" she yelped, clutching her perfectly fine knee.

"Moonie?" A pretty, innocent voice called back. "Are you okay?" Splashing sounds preceded the appearance of a young girl of 5, who could have been Usagi's twin, with her large blue eyes and golden hair that fell to just past her shoulders. A red bow peeked out from where it held up half her sopping wet hair. Her light orange dress, also drenched, hung limply to her knees. Worry was painted across her young face.

Usagi stopped rubbing her knee and, before the other girl caught on, sent a wave of water into her face.

"_Moonieeee!_" the little girl cried. Her eyes popped open to reveal a glare through the bangs that were now plastered to her forehead. "That wasn't fair!"

Giggling, Usagi lay on her back so that she was almost completely immersed in the water but for her ears and face. "Well you weren't fair when you splashed me when I wasn't paying attention!"

She heard and felt her friend lay down beside her. "It wasn't my fault you zoned out _again_," she said haughtily. "Were you thinking about Earth again?"

"Mhm," Usagi nodded, her gaze fixing on the pretty marble hanging in the sky. "I wonder what it's like there."

"Me, too," Vee sighed. "Mommy told me it's very green, that grass grows all by itself there."

"Really?" Usagi gasped, wonder written all over her face. "My mommy said the people she's met from there are kind and ad-adventurous."

"I want to go there someday."

"Me, too," Usagi agreed, finding Vee's hand in the water and squeezing it tightly. "Promise me that one day, we'll go to Earth and make friends with the people there."

Vee squeezed her hand in reply. "I promise."

**xoxoxo**

She was back in the darkness. Oppressive blackness and silence closed in on her until she thought she was going insane. Walking for no other reason than for the simple need to do something, faint sounds began to drift through the silence. The familiar clangs and cries of battle registered in her mind, but from a distance, as if she was shut away from the violence. Another sound floated toward her, one that was much closer. It was a woman weeping, she realized, walking closer to the distraught sound.

Finally, there was an interruption in the darkness in the form of a faint, flickering orange glow. Kneeling beside the glow, she enveloped it in a comforting hug, and the glow coalesced and became Sailor Venus, sobbing brokenly into her shoulder.

"He's gone," she whimpered into Usagi's hair, which now fell to her ankles. "He's gone, and he's come back to hunt me down. I'm going to have to fight him, Moonie. I'm going to have to try to kill him before he kills me. How can I do that?" Usagi's heart broke for the friend who had been with her through so much. It wasn't fair that she had to go through this pain alone. "We never should have gone to Earth."

Her heart broke even more at those words, but she couldn't pinpoint why. All Usagi knew was that tears were rolling down her own cheeks with a promise of more to come.

**xoxoxo **

Darkness. Unending, unyielding darkness.

Usagi knew exactly where she was now. The all-too-familiar surge of panic was already taking hold of her. Metal clanged and thunder roared, shaking the ground beneath her feet. She didn't bother looking at herself; she knee her long, golden pigtails were singed and that cuts and bruises littered her fair skin. She gritted her teeth against the howling wind that both seared her skin and chilled her to the bone. And then the scream came.

The glow of orange light came earlier this time, as the scream still rang in the air. A dark sense of foreboding filled her, and she wanted to faint when the glow once again condensed into the form of Sailor Venus. Time seemed to slow for Usagi as she watched blood bubble out of the senshi's mouth, as her body fell to the ground almost in slow motion. A sob tore out of Usagi's throat, her heart twisting in anguish. Venus' eyes—which looked so much like her own—glazed and unseeing, seemed to hold her gaze as her Vee's voice floated in her head.

"_We never should have gone to Earth_."

Vee really _had_ been almost like a sister, and Usagi knew, somehow, that their childhood promise in the fountain was why her best friend now lay dead on the ground.

Something shifted in the darkness. Nothing had changed; Usagi still couldn't see anything. But she just _knew_ that something had shifted, and terror shot through the teenager's body. Malice and pure, unadulterated hatred permeated the space around her. Usagi's ears picked up the faint rasp of a sword sliding out of its scabbard, and suddenly, she couldn't move a muscle.

"_NO!"_

Dread filled her to the brim at the deep bellow. Now that she knew what it led to, she tried frantically to wake herself. Her efforts, she knew, were in vain. Usagi watched, her heart shattering, as a blinding golden light burned in front of her, enveloping her in its warmth. For a moment, she thought she felt strong arms embrace her one last time before it, too, was swallowed by the darkness, taking that protective warmth along with it.

Usagi fell to her knees, screaming incoherently at the top of her lungs. Tears flowed in rivers down her face, and warm liquid—blood—touched her fingers.

Loss, guilt and utter despair ate away at her being. The pressure was as unbearable as before, and she paid no heed to the malevolence drawing ever closer.

This time, she sought out the sword, jerking it toward her, watching it jump into vision the second it was in her grasp. The pressure inside of her was too much. She just wanted it to end.

Silver light burst forth from her body with the painful relief of sheathing the sword in her breast. The hideous, agonized scream of the malice rang in her ears as she slumped forward and welcomed the darkness.

**xoxoxo**

Usagi's eyes snapped open and she quickly rolled over and vomited into her bedside trashcan once again. Tears blurred her vision, and her chest ached as if she really had stabbed herself. Sweat-drenched and shaking, she finally quieted and returned the foul-smelling trashcan to the floor.

Luna, at a loss, simply tried to calm her charge by licking her cheek. The sensation caused Usagi to turn her head to the window and note with surprise the sun peeking over the horizon. She turned her head back to the digital alarm clock, which was set to go off in but five minutes.

Though her repose was by no means restful, this was the first time in nine months that Usagi had slept through the night.

**xoxoxo**

Breaking her weeklong streak of having adequate energy, Usagi entered the arcade on the way to school. She watched as Motoki's smiling face fell to a worried expression. "Morning, Toki-onnisan," she greeted tiredly.

"I thought you were sleeping better, Usa," he declared as he began to prepare her coffee.

Sending a small smile Motoki's way, Usagi took a seat at the counter next to a silent Mamoru. "I just had a super stressful day at school yesterday is all, Toki. Don't worry about it."

"Well, what at school is stressing you out so much?"

"Entrance exams start next week," Usagi sighed. "And I'm not ready."

Mamoru finally turned to Usagi. "I'm sure you're more prepared than you think."

Usagi shrugged. "Maybe. More prepared than I was a week and a half ago, for sure."

"Don't worry, I always panic before an exam and end up doing okay," he offered, sending Motoki's eyebrows shooting into his hairline.

Usagi rolled her eyes. "Says the genius." Motoki's jaw dropped.

Mamoru noticed his best friend's shock from the corner of his eye. "Something the matter?"

"Just that you two are actually having a civil conversation for once," the blond observed as he placed the to-go cup of coffee on the counter in front of Usagi.

Usagi stood up and placed the money on the counter, yawning. "I feel like the walking dead, Toki; I just don't have the energy to bicker just now." She grabbed the cup and waved goodbye.

"Ditto," Mamoru murmured, swallowing the last of his coffee.

As Usagi and Mamoru left the arcade, Motoki stood behind the counter, still speechless. If exhaustion was what it took to get those two to stop fighting, they should never sleep again.

**xoxoxo**

Once out of sight of the arcade, Usagi finally allowed her worry to show. "How's your shoulder?"

Mamoru looked down at the anxious blonde and attempted to keep the pain from surfacing in his smile. "It's starting to scab over, thankfully."

Usagi's eyes narrowed. "And the pain?"

_So much for avoiding that part_, he thought to himself with a grimace. "It's killing me," he answered honestly, "but it's much better than last night."

"Well, as long as it's healing," she murmured distractedly, taking a sip of her coffee.

"How did the talk with Venus go?" Mamoru asked.

The way her shoulders tensed before she spoke gave him his answer. "It didn't," she admitted. "I asked her if we could talk after school today instead. After you left, it all came crashing back and I just wanted to get away from her."

"You weren't rude, were you?" he admonished. "Because she seemed like she was making an effort to reach out to you."

"I wasn't rude exactly," Usagi said, a little guilt hedging her voice. "Just not my nicest."

As the pair waited for the crosswalk signal to turn green, Mamoru shook his head. "Usagi, she's your leader now. You need to make her see that you're an asset to the group, even if your station didn't exist a thousand years ago." Usagi stayed silent. "Odango?"

The light turned green, and the two crossed the road. It wasn't until they'd reached the other side that the blonde declared, "I think you were right last night about me existing as someone else in the Silver Millenium."

"Why do you say that?" Mamoru asked, curiously eyeing the giant gathering of people around the newspaper stand at the end of the block.

Usagi took a deep breath before beginning, "I think I knew Venus back then." Mamoru's head whipped towards her, his cobalt eyes narrowing with utter focus. "In fact, I think we grew up together, that we were as close as sisters."

"Did you dream this?" She nodded. "Is that why you're so tired?" Another nod. He caught the subtle glassiness that shone in her eyes; there was something about her dream that she wasn't telling him, but he wasn't going to push her. _He _hadn't been exactly forthcoming about his own dreams. "Well, maybe you two will become as close again."

_I don't know if I want that_, Usagi responded mentally, _not if it means enduring the pain of losing her in this life, too_. But Mamoru didn't know that the death in her nightmare now included Sailor Venus, so she settled for a subdued "maybe."

A particularly loud squeal from the crowd drew the pair's attention to the newspaper stand. "I wonder what's so interesting," Mamoru mused.

Usagi checked her watch. "I've got some time before school starts. We can go take a look."

"Alright," he agreed, stepping forward. "Wait here. I'll get us a paper." And he disappeared into the excited crowd.

When he came back two minutes later, he had a paper in his hand and a scowl on his face. "What is it?" He didn't say a word, only shoved the paper into her free hand. Usagi's jaw dropped.

The front page—as well as the next two pages—featured a surprisingly detailed photostory recounting the battle at the warehouse from the night before. Someone had been extremely impulsive—not to mention well hidden—and managed to capture almost all of the battle and its aftermath. Apparently, they'd even recorded some of the dialogue, because the quotes and context underneath each picture were disturbingly accurate.

Cerulean eyes darted back and forth across the page, taking in the shots from the battle. Thankfully, the photographer had chosen to focus on the senshi's torture instead of Tuxedo Kamen's fight with Zoicite, so Tuxedo Kamen's identity was safe. But what distressed the blonde even more was how the photographer had gotten a clear shot of Sailor Venus—and her announcement—and, even worse, Sailor Moon with a shirtless Tuxedo Kamen on that rooftop. There were two rooftop pictures: one of her bandaging him and another where she stood and bent over, looking almost as if she was about to kiss him. Usagi gaped at the one for a good minute.

"Insane, right?" Mamoru asked, a little bit breathless. The dazed look in his eyes was only matched by the anger beginning to simmer underneath.

Those two words, for some odd reason, made the gears in Usagi's head start turning again. She palmed her forehead in realization. "The capture of the fake Sailor Moon was televised. Of _course_, there would have been photographers at the battle. We're _idiots_!" she hissed.

Nearby, a gaggle of girls started swooning over the pictures of a shirtless Tuxedo Kamen quite loudly. Mamoru's face grew warm as he grumbled, "Great. Now people are going to be ogling me all day."

Usagi quirked an eyebrow at the usually aloof college student. Despite everything, she couldn't resist. "Didn't you use to be a model?"

Sending a glare in her direction, he desperately tried to tamp down his blush. "I had a say in _those_ pictures, and I was fully clothed. This is just embarrassing. I feel violated."

The sound of a whistle interrupted what would have been Usagi's continued teasing. "Would you look at those legs?" came a man's very approving voice. "She should rip her skirt like that all the time. I can just see those legs wrapped around me while I—" Usagi yelped and tugged Mamoru down the street by his shirt.

"Me, too," she agreed with her companion, bright red. "_Extremely_ violated."

**A/N: I'm splitting this chapter in half because it's taking a ridiculously long time to type up, and I feel too guilty for not updating to not at least give you the first half of Chapter 8. I hope you all don't hate me for the huge wait. Please review!**


	9. Revelations and Resolutions

**Enough** (Revised)

A **Sailor Moon **fic by Gigi

**Disclaimer: Nothing's mine.**

Chapter 9: Revelations and Resolutions

**A/N: I know, I suck. But here's the second half of chapter 8. I've written at least the next two chapters, so no worries. If I'm delayed in updating it's because I'm too lazy to type it up and not because it isn't written.**

Usagi sat down at her desk, her cheeks still pink and Mamoru's roaring laughter still ringing in her ears. "Baka," she mumbled as she slumped down in her seat and tried to avoid notice.

Haruna-sensei walked into the classroom with two students trailing behind her. "Class," she began, drawing everyone's attention to her. "We have two new students today." She pointed to the dark-haired, rather attractive boy standing of a height to her. "This is Sasaki Itachi."

All the girls around Usagi eagerly greeted the new boy. Usagi didn't pay him a second glance, focusing instead on the beautiful blonde girl with cornflower blue eyes standing beside him.

"And this is Aino Minako." Usagi's mind flew back to her dream, conjuring up the image of a five-year-old Vee who beamed at her and looked for all the world like her twin. "They've both just moved back to Tokyo after spending some years abroad, so please make them feel welcome." Minako caught Usagi's eye and winked with a mischievous grin. There was no doubt in her mind that Minako was Sailor Venus—Vee.

**xoxoxo**

When the bell rang for lunch, Usagi rose from her seat and approached Minako, who was still gathering her things. "Aino-san?"

Minako straightened and, with a bright smile, said, "Minako, please."

Yes, that was the same voice. Usagi put on her cheeriest smil and stuck out her hand. "My name is Tsukino Usagi. I was wondering if you wanted to eat lunch with me and a few of my friends."

Recognition sparked in Minajo's eyes as she shook Usagi's hand. "Sure," she accepted. "I'd love to."

As the girls made their way to the cafeteria, Usagi discovered just how similar they were—and in much more ways than appearances. They may have kept their discussion light and insignificant, but Usagi sensed the same refusal to mull over the stresses that came with being a senshi in the other blonde. Minako acted justed as bubbly and carefree as Usagi usually did in public as a way to hide the anxiety and emotional scarring, as a way to momentarily forget that the world's fate depended on finding the Moon Princess, a task insofar unfulfilled.

Despite herself, Usagi enjoyed Minako's company. There was a kindred spirit in the girl who was to replace her as a leader and possibily as a senshi. Maybe it was just the knowledge of how close they were in their past lives, but Usagi felt lighter talking to this newcomer.

Their friendly chatter stopped once they reached the cafeteria, the lunchroom noise a blunt reminder to Usagi that she couldn't avoid the senshi's table anymore. Her eyes fell on the three girls already sitting there, and a bitter taste lingered in her mouth. Rei had betrayed her all over again last night, but Venus' arrival had taken away any power Usagi had to get through to the fiery senshi. Now, she had to grin and bear Rei's derision; she had to be a team player if she wanted any hope of remaining a senshi.

"Girls," Usagi announced her presence at the table. "This is Minako. I invited her to sit with us." She turned to the blonde beside her. "Minako, this is Mizuno Ami, Kino Makoto and Hino Rei," she introduced, studiously avoiding eye contact with the latter.

"It's nice to meet you all," Minako greeted, receiving polite responses from each of the seated girls. When they had all started eating, she confirmed the questions in all their eyes. "Yes, it's me." Her face suddenly grew much more serious. "I trust you've all seen today's paper?"

Usagi's face heated up instantly. Makoto smirked. "You have some explaining to do, Missy," she said, wagging a finger at the redfaced blonde. "Apparently, _some_one was pretty cozy with Cape Boy last night."

"Nothing happened," Usagi denied. Her cheeks were burning! Bringing her hands up to her face, she muttered out an explanation that seemed dreadfully weak compared to those pictures. "He was hurt and I was helping him."

"Helping him out of his shirt," Rei giggled.

Usagi froze at the playfulness in Rei's voice. It sounded…sincere. She finally looked at the raven-haired priestess and was surprised to find only a friendly expression. Something shone in those violet eyes. Remorse? "Trust me we only talked," she assured her, "no matter what the photo suggests."

It may have just been a trick of the light, but it seemed as if Rei's eyes flashed to black for just an instant. But either way, her demeanor toward Usagi grew infinitely frostier. "It was stupid of you to see him without us there. We still don't know if we can trust him." Usagi flinched at the sharpness of her words.

"This again?" Ami groaned, closing the textbook she'd been attempting to read. "Usagi's known him for longer than we have, and all he's ever done is come to her aid."

Cerulean eyes looked up from the table to see the normally mild and meek Ami standing up for her. In that moment, Usagi had never been so grateful for the bookworm. Maybe this was Ami's way of telling her she trusted her?

Minako concurred, "Last night, he introduced himself to me as her protector. I don't see how that would suggest we can't trust him."

"He's after the same thing we are, and he refuses to tell us why," Rei argued. "If Usagi wasn't always simpering over him like an idiot, maybe she would see how suspicious that is!"

Usagi sighed and went back to poking at her food. Rei's friendliness not two minutes ago must have been a fluke.

Makoto's face fell as she watched Usagi hunch over her food, refusing to even look up for the rest of lunch. Just yesterday, Usagi would have stood up for herself against Rei. Now, it was like all the fight had just bled out of her. As the final lunch bell rang, Makoto resolved to talk to her during their training session. She'd been so strong all this time, even if they'd never seen it. Now was not the time to give up.

**xoxoxo**

After school, Minako and Usagi walked to the main park in silence. Neither of them said a word until they were both seated on a bench overlooking the sparkling lake. Even then, it was a few minutes before Minako spoke.

"I want you to know, first and foremost, that my coming in no way means you have to leave," she said, looking over to the blonde staring out at the lake.

Usagi took a few seconds to respond, but when she did, her voice sounded just slightly hollow. "I have been Sailor Moon for so long, I wouldn't know how to leave," she confessed, "but I don't know if I have a place anymore." Crystal blue eyes blinked rapidly. Her eyes looked very much like pools from the lake whose depths she continued to contemplate.

"Of course, you still have a place here," Minako assured her. "You've had experience leading these girls. You're invaluable to this group, and I would like you to stay second-in-command."

"I've been holding one-on-one training sessions since last week," Usagi declared, neither accepting nor rejecting the offer, "at eleven o'clock at night in the Kids' Park. Tonight is Makoto's turn. Maybe you should take over. You need to see what they can do anyway."

Minako straightened back out to look at the glittering water, since Usagi was determined to avoid eye contact. "I also need to see what you can do. How about I just tag along for the sessions? We can train the girls together."

Usagi bowed her head in acquiescence. "Okay."

"Okay, enough crap already!" Usagi raised her head to see open anger on her lookalike's face.

"Excuse me?"

Fire burned behind Minako's eyes as she berated Usagi. "Stop acting so _damn_ docile! You look and sound like you've given up, and that won't fly as a senshi."

"Don't you think I know that?" Usagi demanded, finally putting some heat into her voice. Minako breathed a small sigh of relief to hear life in those words. "Do you think I _enjoy_ losing my chance at getting Rei to respect me? At getting all the girls to take me seriously as a leader? I messed up by protecting the city at night so that they could sleep, and I thought it was more important to be their friend than their leader. They were going to _mutiny_, Vee!" She didn't notice how Minako's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "And I was _finally_ making some progress when you showed up and replaced me. Rei got what she wanted, and all I can do now is prove I'm a team player that she can't accuse me of still trying to be the leader."

Usagi was panting from agitation by the time she finished her speech, all but glaring at the girl who looked so much like her. Resentfully, she thought this was part of the Universe's twisted sense of humor: a new and improved Leader of the Senshi.

"You called me Vee," Minako said softly.

"What?" This was definitely not the way she'd expected this conversation to go. Had she really addressed her by the nickname from her dream?

"How do you know that name?" Minako asked, eyeing Usagi almost as if she suspected her of lying.

"Uh…" Usagi didn't know if she wanted to tell her about the dreams, but she didn't want to lie about it. "It just sort of slipped out. I, well, sometimes I get flashes of memories…you know, from the Silver Millenium, and one was of you and me playing in a fountain. We seemed close." She wouldn't bring up the promise, not to mention the other flashes of Vee she saw. Not yet.

Doubt swam in Minako's gaze. "Only a very small number of people called me that."

Usagi read between the lines and her eyes narrowed. "So you remember a lot of your past life then?"

"Bits and pieces ever since I became Sailor Venus," she responded, looking out at the lake. "The main events and anything to do with the princess are all so that I can't see anything, only—"

"Hear and feel everything?" Usagi finished for her.

Minako returned her attention to her companion, stunned. "Exactly."

"It's the same way with me," Usagi confessed. "In fact, the memory of the fountain was the first time I could see anything other than myself and random glowing spheres."

Minako gave Usagi the once over, consideration in her scrutiny. "How old were we?"

Usagi cocked her head to the side at the question. Why did their age matter? "Um, you looked to be around 5."

"I called you Moonie, didn't I?" Excitement crept into Minako's voice, although Usagi still had no idea why as she nodded. A squeal escaped Minako. "We were cousins!"

"We were?" This was certainly news to her.

Minako nodded eagerly. "I remember, we grew up together because we were cousins. Our mothers, I think, were very close."

"Do you know my name?" Usagi asked softly, curiosity nagging at her.

"No. In fact, I don't remember you at all past the age of 10," Minako said, suddenly much more somber. So she didn't know about the promise, or at least its outcome.

"Why not?"

Minako bit her lip. "Well, I think I started training to become a senshi once I turned 10. I don't know for sure, but that's when my memories become dark."

Her words served as a stark reminder that Sailor Moon didn't exist, and Usagi couldn't repress the resentment in her words. "So I just got dropped so that you could protect the princess, and now I'm supposed to protect that very same princess. That's rich."

"Usagi, that's not fair. I don't think I had a choice."

Something in Minako's voice—it seemed like true regret for her past self's actions—made the bitterness fly out of Usagi's body. She realized that she had simply transferred the pain of being abandoned by her senshi in this lifetime onto what may or may not have been abandonment by Vee in her past life. Minako was right; she wasn't being fair. She only had limited recollection of her pas, and Minako hadn't done anything to betray her this time around. There was no sane reason not to trust her, not to let her in…and she liked her a lot. Maybe she could find a friend in Minako instead of continuing to push her away.

"I'm sorry," Usagi said, slumping back into her seat. "I shouldn't have taken all my anger out on you. You haven't done anything to deserve it." She stuck her hand out in a peace offering. "Friends?"

A brilliant smile broke onto Minako's face as she enthusiastically shook Usagi's hands. "You betcha, Moonie."

**xoxoxo**

Classical music played quietly in the background as Ami ran her highlighter over a line of text in her history book. To the left of that book sat three other textbooks awaiting her review in preparation for the college entrance exams beginning in but five days. With a sigh, she closed her history book and slid it over to the right, replacing it with her Advanced Biology text. A look at the clock hanging on her wall told her she'd been studying for two hours.

As if seeing the time broke her focus, the soreness and stiffness in her muscles suddenly made themselves known. A small groan fell past her lips when she stretched out her back. She hadn't had the full training session the night before thanks to the battle, but the constant assault of electricity had ravaged her system. With water as her element, she had lost consciousness at least once during the attack, and her muscles were positively shot.

Ami, focused as she was on getting her muscles to relax even just a little, almost missed the urgent beeping that filled the room. When the sound finally penetrated her mind, she turned to her bed, where her Mercury computer sat flashing, signaling it had picked up some negative energy during its hourly scan of the city. She picked up the device and quickly read the results, but they didn't make sense. A puzzled frown came onto her face; the map highlighted the Cherry Hill Temple as the source.

_Rei lives there_, she thought to herself. _Why hasn't she called us for backup yet?_

Something didn't fit, though Ami couldn't tell what or how. But she intended to find out.

**xoxoxo**

The Temple was eerily silent once again as Sailor Mercury alighted on the top step of the giant stone stairs leading up to the grounds. A powerful sense of déjà vu swept over her, and this time she knew not to waste her energy searching the various rooms of the Temple. The Prayer Room would be her first and only stop.

She slid open the paper door to the room that housed the Great Fire, and turquoise eyes widened at the sight of a sweaty Rei huddled on the floor, shivering uncontrollably. A pained grunt echoed throughout the room, accompanied by a particularly violent shake. "Go away," came the priestess' demand through gritted teeth. "Get out!"

Her shriek jerked Mercury out of her shock. "No," she denied adamantly. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

Curiously, Rei whipped around in utter surprise to gape at the blue-haired senshi as if she hadn't known she was there. "M-Mercury!" That was all she said before she hugged herself even tighter in the wake of another wave of tremors.

Sailor Mercury, for all her cunning and intelligence, was out of her element. Her computer beeped, and as she pulled it out of her subspace pocket, she saw the source of the negative energy was Hino Rei.

**A/N: And the cat's out of the bag! Mercury knows something's up with Rei, so what will she do with this information? Hopefully you'll be nice and stick around for the next chapter to find out. Hopefully you're not too mad at me to review!**


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